Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 20, NWS Hastings, NE

May 18, 1990Furnas County, Gosper County, Nebraska

NWS Hastings, NE issued this tornado warning at May 18, 1990, 8:31 PM CDT for Furnas County, Gosper County, Nebraska. It was in force for 29 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 18, 1990, 8:31 PM CDT (01:31 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1990, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Hastings, NE
Area
Whole counties

Counties Furnas County, NE, Gosper 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, 1.5 hours before the alert went out and 107 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 1990-05-19Temperature 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 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 00:00Z on 1990-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 182 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
0 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
182 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
360 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
5.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGRI 190131
TORGRI
NEC065-073-190200-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND ISLAND NE
831 PM CDT FRI MAY 18 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 900 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL PART OF NEBRASKA
      NORTHERN FURNAS...SOUTHERN GOSPER

AT 830 PM CDT...GRAND ISLAND RADAR CONTINUED TO SHOW A POSSIBLE
TORNADO 30 MILES NORTHEAST OF MCCOOK...OR JUST NORTH OF ARAPAHOE.
THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO TAKE SHELTER IN A BASEMENT
OR BELOW GROUND.  OTHERWISE GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED
BUILDING.

 DER/JBS

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 18, 4:43 PM CDT, 3 hours 48 minutes before
NEZ008-013>015-017>019-DDHHMM-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND ISLAND NE
435 PM CDT FRI MAY 18 1990

...TORNADO WATCH FOR CENTRAL AND WESTERN NEBRASKA AS WELL AS WESTERN
KANSAS UNTIL 10PM CDT...

AT 435 PM CDT THUNDERSTORMS WERE FORMING OVER NORTHEAST NEBRASKA...AND
ALSO IN THE EXTREME SOUTHWEST PART OF NEBRASKA AND NORTHWEST KANSAS.

IN THE NORTHEAST THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALONG AND JUST SOUTH OF THE
MISSOURI RIVER FROM YANKTON SOUTH DAKOTA TO SIOUX CITY IOWA.  HEAVY
RAIN WAS JUST WEST OF YANKTON.  MOVMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 40MPH.

THE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA WERE FROM IMPERIAL
NORTH TO OGALLALA.  MOVMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35MPH.
DERN
Special weather statement, May 18, 5:37 PM CDT, 2 hours 54 minutes before
NEZ008-013>015-017>019-182345-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND ISLAND NE
535 PM CDT FRI MAY 18 1990

...TORNADO WATCH FOR CENTRAL AND WESTERN NEBRASKA AS WELL AS WESTERN
KANSAS UNTIL 10PM CDT...

AT 535 PM CDT THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING FROM NORTHEAST NEBRASKA...AND
A FEW VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN THE SOUTHWEST PART OF THE
STATE.

IN THE NORTHEAST THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALONG AND NORTH OF THE
MISSOURI RIVER FROM NORTH OF ONIELL TO SIOUX CITY IOWA.  THEY WERE
MOVING TO THE EAST AT 40MPH.

IN THE SOUTHWEST THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE FROM ALONG THE KANSAS NEBRASKA
BORDER SOUTHWEST OF MCCOOK..TO ABOUT 25 MILES SOUTHWEST OF NORTH PLATTE.
MOVMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35MPH.   ONE THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY
HEAVY RAIN WILL REACH THE MCCOOK AREA AROUND 6PM.  DER
Special weather statement, May 18, 6:50 PM CDT, 1 hour 41 minutes before
NEZ008-013>015-017>019-190045-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GRAND ISLAND NE
635 PM CDT FRI MAY 18 1990

...TORNADO WATCH FOR CENTRAL AND WESTERN NEBRASKA AS WELL AS WESTERN
KANSAS UNTIL 10PM CDT...TORNADO WATCH FOR NORTHEAST NEBRASKA UNTIL MID
NIGHT...

AT 635 PM CDT THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING OUT OF EXTREME NORTHEAST NEBRASKA
...THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO DEVELOPE IN THE SOUTHWEST AND WEST PART OF
THE STATE.

IN THE NORTHEAST THE ONLY THUNDERSTORM REMAINING IN THE STATE WAS JUST
SOUTHWEST OF YANKTON.  IT WAS DROPPING VERY HEAVY RAIN AND MOVING TO THE
EAST AT 35MPH.

IN THE SOUTHWEST THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN JUST SOUTHWEST OF
MCCOOK...ANOTHER WAS JUST WESTN AND SOUTHWEST OF NORTH PLATTE.  THE ONE
NEAR NORTH PLATTE HAD SPAWNED SEVERAL TORNADOES.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS
WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35MPH.
DER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 7:38 PM CDTTornado WarningGIDFurnas, Gosper52 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Nebraska, 1990Every tornado warning in 1990Tornadoes in 1990

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.