Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Hastings, NE

October 17, 1994Greeley County, Howard County, Nebraska

NWS Hastings, NE issued this tornado warning at Oct 17, 1994, 5:54 PM CDT for Greeley County, Howard County, Nebraska. It was in force for 36 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 17, 1994, 5:54 PM CDT (22:54 UTC)
Expired
Oct 17, 1994, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
36 min
Issued by
NWS Hastings, NE
Area
Whole counties

Counties Greeley County, NE, Howard County, NE

The nearest sounding before it

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 176 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 172257
TORGRI
NEC077-093-172330-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
554 PM CDT MON OCT 17 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HASTINGS NE  HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN CENTRAL NEBRASKA
 
   ...SOUTHERN GREELEY COUNTY...AND ALL OF HOWARD COUNTY
 
AT 551 PM CDT...A SPOTTER NORTH OF SAINT PAUL NEBRASKA OR 25 NORTH OF
GRAND ISLAND REPORTED A TORNADO.
 
THE STORM PRODUCING THIS TORNADO WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 TO 40 MILES
AN HOUR.  THIS TAKES THE STORM INTO THE WOLBACH AREA BY 605 PM CDT.
 
ANOTHER SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS NEAR DANNEBROG OR 15 MILES NORTHWEST
OF GRAND ISLAND...MOVING TOWARD SAINT PAUL.
 
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, 5:42 PM CDT, 12 minutes before
KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ077-086-087-172330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTED TO ADD 2ND PARAGRAPH
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
542 PM CDT MON OCT 17 1994

...TORNADO WATCHES REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND
NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS THIS EVENING...

A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL PASS THROUGH RUSKIN AND DESHLER NEBRASKA
BY 6 PM AND REACH CARLETON AND STRANG BY 630 PM. THE STORM WILL
PRODUCE SMALL HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH AS IT MOVES NORTHEAST
AT 35 MPH.

AT 540 PM THE THUNDERSTORM WAS NEAR HARDY OR 40 MILES NORTHWEST OF
CONCORDIA.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS IN EXTREME NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS HAD WEAKENED.
HOWEVER A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM IN NORTH
CENTRAL KANSAS AND UNTIL 11 PM IN SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA.

DROZD
Special weather statement, Oct 17, 5:43 PM CDT, 11 minutes before
KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ077-086-087-172330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
542 PM CDT MON OCT 17 1994

...TORNADO WATCHES REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND
NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS THIS EVENING...

A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL PASS THROUGH RUSKIN AND DESHLER NEBRASKA
BY 6 PM AND REACH CARLETON AND STRANG BY 630 PM. THE STORM WILL
PRODUCE SMALL HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH AS IT MOVES NORTHEAST
AT 35 MPH.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS IN EXTREME NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS HAD WEAKENED.
HOWEVER A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM IN NORTH
CENTRAL KANSAS AND UNTIL 11 PM IN SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA.

DROZD
Special weather statement, Oct 17, 5:44 PM CDT, 10 minutes before
KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ077-086-087-172330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...CORRECTED TO ADD 2ND PARAGRAPH
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
542 PM CDT MON OCT 17 1994

...TORNADO WATCHES REMAIN IN EFFECT FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND
NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS THIS EVENING...

A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL PASS THROUGH RUSKIN AND DESHLER NEBRASKA
BY 6 PM AND REACH CARLETON AND STRANG BY 630 PM. THE STORM WILL
PRODUCE SMALL HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH AS IT MOVES NORTHEAST
AT 35 MPH.

AT 540 PM THE THUNDERSTORM WAS NEAR HARDY OR 40 MILES NORTHWEST OF
CONCORDIA.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS IN EXTREME NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS HAD WEAKENED.
HOWEVER A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM IN NORTH
CENTRAL KANSAS AND UNTIL 11 PM IN SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA.

DROZD

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, 5:00 PM CDTTornado WarningGIDBuffalo, Hall, Howard30 min
Oct 17, 5:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDBuffalo, Hall, Howard26 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.