Alert archive / Nebraska / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 12, NWS North Platte, NE

May 18, 1990Thomas County, Nebraska

NWS North Platte, NE issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 18, 1990, 9:05 PM CDT for Thomas County, Nebraska. It was in force for 55 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
May 18, 1990, 9:05 PM CDT (02:05 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1990, 10:00 PM CDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS North Platte, NE
Area
Whole counties

County Thomas 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
May 18, 9:45 PM CDTHail 1.75Thomas, 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 00:00Z, 2.1 hours before the alert went out and 87 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 KLBF 190205
SVRLBF
NEC171-190300-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
905 PM CDT FRI MAY 18 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTY

   IN THE NORTH CENTRAL PART OF NEBRASKA
      THOMAS

AT 848 PM CDT THE TOWN OF THEDFORD REPORTED GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL
COVERING THE GROUND ALONG WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG WINDS.
THEDFORD IS ABOUT 50 MILES NORTH OF NORTH PLATTE.
THIS THUNDERSTORM IS MOVING NORTH AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

IF YOU ARE IN THE AREA THREATENED BY THE STORM...GO TO A REINFORCED
SHELTER AND PREPARE FOR STRONG DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY
HEAVY RAIN...AND DEADLY LIGHTNING.

REMEMBER...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE A
TORNADO WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING SO BE ON THE LOOKOUT!!

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER...
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

 TORNADO WATCH REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA UNTIL 10 PM
 CD	T.

                                                                   X

 MONSON 0203Z

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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, 4:44 PM CDT, 4 hours 21 minutes before
NEZ007-182330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
440 PM CDT FRI MAY 18 1990

...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 10PM CDT FOR SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA...

AT 440 PM CDT...WIDELY SCATTERD THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING OVER
SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE JUST SOUTH AND EAST OF IMPERIAL OR 55 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF NORTH PLATTE. ANOTHER JUST SOUTH OF OGALLALA OR 46 MILES
WEST OF NORTH PLATTE. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVINGM NORTHEAST AT
30 MILES PER HOUR MOVING ACROSS EASTERN CHASE AND CENTRAL KEITH COUNTIES.

LOCALIZED HEAVY RAINFALL...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...AND SMALL HAIL
WILL BE POSSIBLE UNTIL 515PM CDT OR 415 MDT.

ACH.
Special weather statement, May 18, 5:29 PM CDT, 3 hours 36 minutes before
NEZ0006-007-012-017-190025-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
525 PM CDT FRI MAY 18 1990

...TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 10PM CDT FOR SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA...

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...SOME QUITE HEAVY...CONTINUED OVER
A GOOD PART OF SOUTHWEST AND WESTCENTRAL NEBRASKA.  THE STRONGEST
STORMS WERE 25 MILES SOUTHWEST OF NORTH PLATTE AND 70 MILES SOUTH
OF NORTH PLATTE AND WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.  THESE STORMS
MAY CONTAIN HAIL...STRONG WINDS AND LIGHTNING.

RC

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 7:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFCedar, Knox55 min
May 18, 7:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFCherry68 min
May 18, 7:12 PM CDTTornado WarningLBFLincoln33 min
May 18, 7:38 PM CDTTornado WarningLBFFrontier, Red Willow37 min
May 18, 7:44 PM CDTTornado WarningLBFLincoln31 min
May 18, 7:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFArthur, Grant, Hooker64 min
May 18, 8:59 PM CDTTornado WarningLBFRed Willow31 min
May 18, 9:29 PM CDTTornado WarningLBFRed Willow31 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Nebraska, 1990Every severe thunderstorm warning 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.