Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 16, NWS Hastings, NE

October 17, 1994Buffalo County, Hall County, Howard County, Nebraska

NWS Hastings, NE issued this tornado warning at Oct 17, 1994, 5:00 PM CDT for Buffalo County, Hall County, Howard County, Nebraska. It was in force for 30 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 17, 1994, 5:00 PM CDT (22:00 UTC)
Expired
Oct 17, 1994, 5:30 PM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Hastings, NE
Area
Whole counties

Counties Buffalo County, NE, Hall County, NE, Howard County, NE

The nearest sounding before it

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 160 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 1994-10-17Temperature 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 1994-10-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 170 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGRI 172201
TORGRI
NEC093-019-079-172230-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
500 PM CDT MON OCT 17 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HASTINGS NE  HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  530 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN CENTRAL NEBRASKA
 
   ...SOUTHERN HOWARD COUNTY
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA
 
   ...EASTERN BUFFALO COUNTY...NORTHWESTERN HALL COUNTY
 
A TORNADO PRODUCING THUNDERSTORM CONTINUES TO MOVE NORTHEAST ACROSS
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA...AT 458 PM CDT A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS INDICATED
BY RADAR AND SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO 11 MILES NORTH OF HIGHWAY
30 ON THE RAVENNA ROAD...OR 15 MILES NORTHEAST OF KEARNEY.
 
THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 TO 40 MILES AN HOUR.  THIS STORM
SHOULD REACH BOELUS NEBRASKA BY 515 PM CDT...AND COULD REACH BY SAINT
PAUL BY 530 PM CDT.
 
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.
 
 
 
&
LEW

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 41 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 40 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 17, 3:56 PM CDTTornado WarningGIDPhelps34 min
Oct 17, 4:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDBuffalo36 min
Oct 17, 4:36 PM CDTTornado WarningGIDBuffalo39 min
Oct 17, 5:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDBuffalo, Hall, Howard26 min
Oct 17, 5:54 PM CDTTornado WarningGIDGreeley, Howard36 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.