Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Cheyenne, WY

June 5, 1996Box Butte County, Nebraska

NWS Cheyenne, WY issued this tornado warning at Jun 5, 1996, 9:48 PM MDT for Box Butte County, Nebraska. It was in force for 12 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
Jun 5, 1996, 9:48 PM MDT (03:48 UTC)
Expired
Jun 5, 1996, 10:00 PM MDT
In force
12 min
Issued by
NWS Cheyenne, WY
Area
Whole counties

County Box Butte County, NE

The radar

The Cheyenne radar (KCYS), 186 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:49 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 5, 9:50 PM MDTHail 1.75Alliance, 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Rapid City, SD (KUNR), launched 00:00Z, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 206 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, Rapid City, SD at 00:00Z on 1996-06-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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, Rapid City, SD at 00:00Z on 1996-06-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 64 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
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-173 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2305 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
242 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 KCYS 060349
TORCYS
NEC013-060400-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
948 PM MDT WED JUN 5 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHEYENNE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE
 
   ...SOUTHEASTERN BOX BUTTE COUNTY
 
AT 945 PM MDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 5 MILES WEST OF
ALLIANCE. THIS STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST^ AT 35 MPH.
 
PERSONS IN THE VICINITY OF ALLIANCE SHOULD TAKE COVER NOW!
 
MOORE

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, Jun 5, 6:35 PM MDT, 3 hours 13 minutes before
NEZ001>003-060130-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
635 PM MDT WED JUN 5 1996

...A FEW STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING ACROSS THE FAR NORTHWEST
PART OF THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE AT 630 PM...

THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE LOCATED ABOUT 30 MILES WEST OF CHADRON
IN NORTH CENTRAL SIOUX COUNTY.  ANOTHER STRONG STORM WAS LOCATED
ABOUT 20 MILES NORTH OF TORRINGTON ALONG THE WYOMING-NEBRASKA
BORDER.

THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT ABOUT 40 MPH...AND WILL
BE AFFECTING PARTS OF THE NORTHERN PANHANDLE THROUGH 730 PM.
SMALL HAIL AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN WILL BE THE MAIN HAZARDS WITH THESE
STORMS...ALONG WITH DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.  BE SURE TO STAY INDOORS
WHEN STORMS ARE IN YOUR AREA.

JAD
Special weather statement, Jun 5, 8:58 PM MDT, 50 minutes before
WYZ060-060345-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
900 PM MDT WED JUN 5 1996

...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING ACROSS CENTRAL NIOBRARA COUNTY
AT 855 PM...

THE STORM WAS LOCATED ABOUT 25 MILES NORTH OF LUSK...OR ABOUT 10
MILES NORTHEAST OF LANCE CREEK.  IT WAS MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT
ABOUT 35 MPH AND WILL MOVE THROUGH CENTRAL AND EAST CENTRAL NIOBRARA
COUNTY THROUGH 930 PM.

SIMILAR STORMS THIS EVENING HAVE PRODUCED PEA TO MARBLE SIZE HAIL
AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN.  PEOPLE TRAVELING ALONG HIGHWAY 85 NEAR THE
JUNCTION WITH HIGHWAY 270 SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THIS STORM.

JAD
Special weather statement, Jun 5, 9:04 PM MDT, 44 minutes before
NEZ001>003-060345-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
905 PM MDT WED JUN 5 1996

...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING ACROSS FAR EAST CENTRAL SIOUX
COUNTY AT 900 PM...

THE STORM WAS LOCATED ABOUT 10 TO 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CRAWFORD AND
WAS MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH.  IT WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHWEST
DAWES AND NORTHWEST BOX BUTTE COUNTIES BY 915 PM.  THIS STORM LIKELY
WAS PRODUCING PEA TO MARBLE SIZE HAIL AND HEAVY RAtIN.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR DAWES AND BOX BUTTE
COUNTIES UNTIL 3 AM.  PEOPLE IN THESE COUNTIES SHOULD REMAIN ALERT
TO ANY THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO YOUR AREA.

JAD

The office that day

Everything else NWS Cheyenne, WY issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 5, 6:41 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSSioux34 min
Jun 5, 7:01 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSDawes29 min
Jun 5, 7:10 PM MDTTornado WarningCYSSioux20 min
Jun 5, 7:25 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSBox Butte35 min
Jun 5, 7:50 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSMorrill25 min
Jun 5, 8:14 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSMorrill26 min
Jun 5, 9:31 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSBox Butte44 min
Jun 5, 9:39 PM MDTTornado WarningCYSBox Butte36 min
Jun 5, 9:55 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSMorrill35 min
Jun 5, 11:03 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSScotts Bluff42 min
Jun 5, 11:10 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSSioux35 min
Jun 5, 11:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSMorrill30 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Nebraska, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes in 1996

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.