Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Cheyenne, WY

June 29, 1989Box Butte County, Nebraska

NWS Cheyenne, WY issued this tornado warning at Jun 29, 1989, 2:29 PM MDT for Box Butte County, Nebraska. It was in force for 31 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Jun 29, 1989, 2:29 PM MDT (20:29 UTC)
Expired
Jun 29, 1989, 3:00 PM MDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Cheyenne, WY
Area
Whole counties

County Box Butte County, NE

The radar

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

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 29, 2:43 PM MDTTornado F1Box Butte, NE

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Rapid City, SD (KRAP), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 206 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 12:00Z on 1989-06-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 26 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 1989-06-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 30 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
26 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-480 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2520 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
35 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBFF 292029
TORBFF
NEC013-292100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SCOTTSBLUFF NE
229 PM MDT THU JUN 29 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 300 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE PANHANDLE OF NEBRASKA
      NORTHEAST BOX BUTTE

AT 220 PM MDT THE PUBLIC REPORTED A TORNADO 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF
ALLIANVE NEBRASKA THAT WAS MOVING SLOWLY TO THE EAST.

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.

LARGE HAIL...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN ARE LIKELY WITH
THIS STORM...IN ADDITION TO THE THREAT OF TORNADOES.

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, Jun 29, 1:01 PM MDT, 1 hour 28 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SCOTTSBLUFF NE
100 PM MDT THU JUN 29 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE...

THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING RAPIDLY OVER THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE
EARLY THIS AFTERNOON. AT 1250 PM MDT...THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM
WAS LOCATED ABOUT 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF SIDNEY NEBRASKA IN THE SOUTHERN
PANHANDLE THAT WAS MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO INTENSIFYING OVER SHERIDAN COUNTY IN
THE NORTHEAST NEBRASKA PANHANDLE FROM 25 MILES NORTHEAST OF ALLIANCE
NEBRASKA TO 35 MILES EAST OF CHADRON. THESE STORMS WERE ALSO MOVING
EAST AT 15 MPH.

BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WIND AND SMALL HAIL IS LIKELY WIT	H
THESE STORMS OVER SHERIDAN AND CHEYENNE COUNTIES OF THE NEBRASKA
PANHANDLE UNTIL 230 PM MDT.
KOSEL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 29, 1:40 PM MDTTornado WarningCYSSheridan35 min
Jun 29, 2:47 PM MDTTornado WarningCYSBox Butte28 min
Jun 29, 3:17 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSBox Butte, Sheridan38 min
Jun 29, 3:40 PM MDTTornado WarningCYSSheridan35 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.