Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1994
Tornado Warning 15, NWS Hastings, NE
NWS Hastings, NE issued this tornado warning at Oct 17, 1994, 4:36 PM CDT for Buffalo County, Nebraska. It was in force for 39 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
- Oct 17, 1994, 4:36 PM CDT (21:36 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 17, 1994, 5:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 39 min
- Issued by
- NWS Hastings, NE
- Area
- Whole counties
County Buffalo County, NE
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 17, 4:48 PM CDT | Tornado F1 | Kearney To, NE | A tornado touched down briefly in open country northeast of Kearney. |
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, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 132 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1121 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 65 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 170 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 305 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KGRI 172136 RRA TORGRI NEC019-172215- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING...CORRECTION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 436 PM CDT MON OCT 17 1994 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HASTINGS NE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 5 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA ...SOUTHERN AND EASTERN BUFFALO COUNTY... AT 432 PM CDT RADAR INDICATES A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR KEARNEY NEBRASKA MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. RESIDENTS OF KEARNEY SHOULD SEEK SHELTER NOW... PERSONS IN THE WARNED AREA SHOULD TAKE SHELTER IN A BASEMENT IF AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. CARS AND MOBILE HOMES SHOULD BE ABANDONED.
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, Oct 17, 11:19 AM CDT, 5 hours 17 minutes before
KSZ005>007-017>019-180200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 1120 AM CDT MON OCT 17 1994 THIS OUTLOOK PERTAINS TO THE FOLLOWING NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS COUNTIES JEWELL MITCHELL OSBORNE PHILLIPS ROOKS SMITH SYNOPSIS: A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS FORECAST TO MOVE FROM WESTERN KANSAS INTO SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING WITH COOLER AND DRIER AIR SPREADING INTO SOUTHWEST NEB(RASKA AND NORTHWEST KANSAS. WITH MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR OVER THE AREA A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE FROM MID AFTERNOON TO EARLY EVENING. SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED. DGS
Special weather statement, Oct 17, 11:20 AM CDT, 5 hours 16 minutes before
KSZ005>007-017>019-180200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 1120 AM CDT MON OCT 17 1994 THIS OUTLOOK PERTAINS TO THE FOLLOWING NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS COUNTIES JEWELL MITCHELL OSBORNE PHILLIPS ROOKS SMITH SYNOPSIS: A LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS FORECAST TO MOVE FROM WESTERN KANSAS INTO SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA DURING THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING WITH COOLER AND DRIER AIR SPREADING INTO SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA AND NORTHWEST KANSAS. WITH MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR OVER THE AREA A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE FROM MID AFTERNOON TO EARLY EVENING. SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED. DGS
The office that day
Everything else NWS Hastings, NE issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 17, 3:56 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Phelps | 34 min |
| Oct 17, 4:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Buffalo | 36 min |
| Oct 17, 5:00 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Buffalo, Hall, Howard | 30 min |
| Oct 17, 5:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Buffalo, Hall, Howard | 26 min |
| Oct 17, 5:54 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Greeley, Howard | 36 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Nebraska, 1994Every tornado warning in 1994Tornadoes in 1994
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.