Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 2, NWS North Platte, NE

May 21, 1989Lincoln County, Nebraska

NWS North Platte, NE issued this tornado warning at May 21, 1989, 10:02 PM CDT for Lincoln County, Nebraska. It was in force for 28 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 21, 1989, 10:02 PM CDT (03:02 UTC)
Expired
May 21, 1989, 10:30 PM CDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS North Platte, NE
Area
Whole counties

County Lincoln 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

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 00:00Z, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 15 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 00:00Z on 1989-05-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1285 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 1989-05-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 18 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1285 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-104 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1630 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
18 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
107 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLBF 220302
TORLBF
NEC111-220330-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
1002 PM CDT SUN MAY 21 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE SOUTHWEST PART OF NEBRASKA
      EASTERN LINCOLN

AT 955 PM CDT...RADAR HAS INDICATED A TORNADO 15 TO 20 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF NORTH PLATTE...NEBRASKA MOVING SUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.
BRADY AND MAXWELL SHOULD TAKE COVER IMMDEIATE...THIS DOESNT
INCLUDE THE CITY OF NORTH PLATTE.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE IS IN
A BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...FIND SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

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, May 21, 5:07 PM CDT, 4 hours 55 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
5 PM CDT SUN MAY 21 1989

...A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER WEST CENTRAL
AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA...

AT 5PM CDT A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS...SOME HEAVY...EXTENDED FROM
NEAR HYANNIS WHICH IS 45 MILES EAST OF ALLIANCE...NORTHEAST TO
30 MILES EAST OF VALINTINE.  THE HEAVIEST STORM WAS JUST SOUTH
OF HYANNIS AND WAS MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.  THESE STORMS COULD
PRODUCE HAIL...STRONG WINDS...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING.

CARPER
MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFTY IF NECESSARY.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS AND SHOWERS WERE SCATTERED ACROSS SOUTHWEST
NEBRASKA MAINLY PRODUCING SHOWERS OF RAIN AND OCASSIONALLY SMALL
HAIL.

MEYER
Special weather statement, May 21, 5:08 PM CDT, 4 hours 54 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTION...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
5 PM CDT SUN MAY 21 1989

...A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER WEST CENTRAL
AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA...

AT 5PM CDT A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS...SOME HEAVY...EXTENDED FROM
NEAR HYANNIS WHICH IS 45 MILES EAST OF ALLIANCE...NORTHEAST TO
30 MILES EAST OF VALINTINE.  THE HEAVIEST STORM WAS JUST SOUTH
OF HYANNIS AND WAS MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.  THESE STORMS COULD
PRODUCE HAIL...STRONG WINDS...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING.

CARPER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 21, 7:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFMcPherson56 min
May 21, 7:39 PM CDTTornado WarningLBFMcPherson36 min
May 21, 8:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFHolt, Rock30 min
May 21, 8:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFLincoln64 min
May 21, 8:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFHolt39 min
May 21, 9:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFLincoln15 min
May 21, 9:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFLincoln33 min
May 21, 9:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFBoyd34 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.