Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Hastings, NE

April 23, 1989Harlan County, Phelps County, Nebraska

NWS Hastings, NE issued this tornado warning at Apr 23, 1989, 6:19 PM CDT for Harlan County, Phelps County, Nebraska. It was in force for 26 min. 3 reports 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
Apr 23, 1989, 6:19 PM CDT (23:19 UTC)
Expired
Apr 23, 1989, 6:45 PM CDT
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Hastings, NE
Area
Whole counties

Counties Harlan County, NE, Phelps 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
Apr 23, 6:19 PM CDTTornado F1Harlan, NE
Apr 23, 6:30 PM CDTTornado F0Phelps, NE
Apr 23, 6:45 PM CDTTornado F1Harlan, 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

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 133 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, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 12:00Z on 1989-04-23Temperature 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, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 12:00Z on 1989-04-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -18 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
3370 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-18 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
60 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 KGRI 232319
TORGRI
NEC083-137-232345-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND ISLAND NE
619 PM CDT SUN APR 23 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 645 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL PART OF NEBRASKA
      HARLAN...PHELPS

AT 610 PM CDT A WEATHER SPOTER REPORTED A TORNADO SOUTHWEST OF
FUNK NEBRASKA FMOVING NORTHEAST...ALSO A WEATHER SPOTER JUST WEST OF
ALMA REPORTED A TORNADO.

PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO SHOULD TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY
TO SAVE YOUR LIVES.

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 23, 5:56 PM CDT, 23 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND ISLAND NE
555 PM CDT SUN APR 23 1989

AT 550 PM CDT A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM HAD DEVELOPED RAPIDLY IN
FURNAS COUNTY OF SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA.

THE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF ARAPAHOE AND
APPEARED TO BE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST.  SMALL HAIL...BRIEF HEAVY
RAIN...AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM AS IT MOVES
NORTHEASTWARD.

JMK4

The office that day

Everything else NWS Hastings, NE issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 23, 6:04 PM CDTTornado WarningGIDFurnas26 min
Apr 23, 6:44 PM CDTTornado WarningGIDFurnas, Gosper, Phelps31 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.