Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Cheyenne, WY

April 26, 1989Sioux County, Nebraska

NWS Cheyenne, WY issued this tornado warning at Apr 26, 1989, 8:11 PM MDT for Sioux County, Nebraska. It was in force for 34 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 26, 1989, 8:11 PM MDT (02:11 UTC)
Expired
Apr 26, 1989, 8:45 PM MDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Cheyenne, WY
Area
Whole counties

County Sioux County, NE

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Rapid City, SD (KRAP), launched 00:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 190 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Rapid City, SD at 00:00Z on 1989-04-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Rapid City, SD at 00:00Z on 1989-04-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 225 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
592 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
60 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
225 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
338 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KBFF 270211
TORBFF
NEC165-270245-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SCOTTSBLUFF NE
811 PM MDT WED APR 26 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 845 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE PANHANDLE OF NEBRASKA
      SOUTHERN SIOUX

AT AT 810 PM MDT RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 18 MILES NORTH
OF SCOTTSBLUFF NEBRASKA IN SOUTHERN SIOUX COUNTY THAT WAS MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

TAKE SHELTER IN A BASEMENT IF AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE GO TO A SMALL
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.  ABANDON
CARS AND MOBILE HOMES.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...FIND SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...TAKE SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR
LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

GIVE REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER OR DAMAGE TO A LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
FOR RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

KOSEL

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 26, 4:23 PM MDT, 3 hours 48 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
420 PM MDT WED APR 26 1989

...WINTER STORM WATCH HAS BEEN POSTED FOR NORTH WYOMING ON THURSDAY...

A DEVELOPING SPRING STORM OVER UTAH THIS AFTERNOON WILL MOVE NORTHEAST
THROUGH FRIDAY. THIS STORM WILL BRING A RETURN TO WINTER WEATHER TO
MUCH OF WYOMING...PARTICULARLY NORTH WYOMING ON THURSDAY. THEREFORE...
A WINTER STORM WATCH HAS BEEN POSTED FOR NORTH WYOMING ON THURSDAY.

THE PRECIPITATION WILL BE MAINLY IN THE FORM OF SNOW ACROSS NORTH
WYOMING TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY. SNOWFALL AMOUNTS OF SIX TO EIGHT INCHES
CAN BE EXPECTED LOWER ELEVATIONS THURSDAY WITH UP TO ONE FOOT IN THE
MOUNTAINS.

TRAVELERS ACROSS NORTH WYO MING TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY SHOULD BE
PREPARED FOR WINTER DRIVING CONDITIONS...PARTICULARLY ALONG THE
HIGH MOUNTAINS PASSES. ALSO...THIS COMBINATION OF WET SNOW...
COLD TEMPERATURES AND BRISK WINDS WILL BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUNG
LIVESTOCK.

MCRANDAL
Special weather statement, Apr 26, 7:32 PM MDT, 39 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SCOTTSBLUFF NE
730 PM MDT WED APR 26 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO THE WEST NEBRASKA PANHANDLE...

THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOPED OVER SOUTHEAST WYOMING EARLIER THIS
EVENING WERE BEGINNING TO MOVE INTO THE WEST NEBRASKA PANHANDLE.
AT 725PM MDT A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM 25 MILES WEST
OF SCOTTSBLUFF NEBRASKA TO NORTHWEST SIOUX COUNTY OF THE WEST
NEBRASKA PANHANDLE. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS 25 WEST OF
SCOTTSBLUFF THAT WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WIND...AND HAIL IS LIKELY WITH THIS STORM
OVER NORTHWEST SCOTTS BLUFF AND SOUTHERN SIOUX COUNTIES OF THE
NEBRASKA PANHANDLE UNTIL 9PM MDT.
KOSEL

The office that day

Everything else NWS Cheyenne, WY issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 26, 7:51 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSSioux69 min
Apr 26, 8:24 PM MDTTornado WarningCYSBox Butte, Dawes, Sioux36 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Nebraska, 1989Every tornado warning in 1989Tornadoes in 1989

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.