Alert archive / Wyoming / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Cheyenne, WY

May 23, 1996Albany County, Wyoming

NWS Cheyenne, WY issued this tornado warning at May 23, 1996, 1:09 PM MDT for Albany County, Wyoming. It was in force for 36 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 23, 1996, 1:09 PM MDT (19:09 UTC)
Expired
May 23, 1996, 1:45 PM MDT
In force
36 min
Issued by
NWS Cheyenne, WY
Area
Whole counties

County Albany County, WY

The radar

The Cheyenne radar (KCYS), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:08 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
May 23, 1:30 PM MDTTornado F0Laramie, WY

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

Riverton, WY (KRIW), launched 12:00Z, 7.2 hours before the alert went out and 270 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, Riverton, WY at 12:00Z on 1996-05-23Temperature 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°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Riverton, WY at 12:00Z on 1996-05-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 104 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
693 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
104 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
210 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 231910
TORCYS
WYC001-231945-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
109 PM MDT THU MAY 23 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHEYENNE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  145 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST WYOMING
 
   ...SOUTH CENTRAL ALBANY COUNTY
 
A SPOTTER IN WEST LARAMIE REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD. DOPPLER RADAR
INDICATED ROTATION IN THE THUNDERSTORM. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST
AT 25 MPH AND WILL PASS THROUGH NORTHERN LARAMIE BY 130 PM.
 
 
GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR!

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, May 23, 10:09 AM MDT, 3 hours before
WYZ059>070-NEZ001>03-019>021-054-055-222300-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
1000 AM MDT THU MAY 23 1996

THE SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL IN THE COUNTY WARNING AREA OF THE CHEYENNE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IS MODERATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NECESSARY.

DISCUSSION...A STRONG UPPER LEVEL JET WITH PLENTY OF DYNAMICS ALOFT
 WILL DOMINATE THE EASTERN PORTIONS OF WYOMING AND WESTERN NEBRASKA
 TODAY. TEMPERATURES ARE COOL AT THE SURFACE AND ALOFT BUT INSTABILITY
 SHOULD STILL DEVELOP LATER TODAY WITH SUFFICIENT MOISTURE TO
 PROMOTE CONVECTION AND AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS. AREAS OF LOCALLY HEAVY
 RAINS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE WITH CONVECTIVE DEVELOPMENT. THERE WILL BE A
 SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING.

THIS OUTLOOK IS FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTHEAST WYOMING AND
THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE:

>
WY...ALBANY...CONVERSE...GOSHEN...LARAMIE...NIOdBRARA...PLATTE.

NE...BANNER   BOX BUTTE   CHEYENNE   DAWES   KIMBALL   MORRILL   SIOUX
     SCOTTS BLUFF

WCJIN-WYSE-WYNE

WTP
Special weather statement, May 23, 10:41 AM MDT, 2 hours 28 minutes before
WYZ059>070-231730-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
1035 AM MDT THU MAY 23 1996

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING IN PARTS OF SOUTHEAST WYOMING THIS
MORNING.  AT 1030 AM DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED WIDESPREAD SHOWERS WITH A LINE
OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM NEAR LARAMIE IN ALBANY COUNTY TO
SOUTHWEST CONVERSE COUNTY.  THESE STORM WERE PRODUCING SMALL HAIL AND
HEAVY RAIN.  ALL THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTHEAST WYOMING
WERE MOVING NORTH AT 30 MPH.

THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE IN SOUTHEAST WYOMING TODAY. SOME
STORMS COULD BECOME QUITE STRONG WITH THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE LARGE
HAIL AND STRONG WINDS.  HEAVY RAIN IS ALSO A POSSIBILITY WITH THESE
STORMS.  BE ALERT TO APPROACHING STORMS TODAY AND LISTEN TO NOAA
WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL RADIO AND TELEVISION STATIONS FOR LATER
STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

WCJIN-WYSE-WYNE
HARRISON
Special weather statement, May 23, 10:50 AM MDT, 2 hours 19 minutes before
NEZ001>003-019-021-054-055-231800-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
1045 AM MDT THU MAY 23 1996

AT 1045 AM MDT DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORMS IN THE
NEBRASKA PANHANDLE.  MOST OF THE ACTIVITY WAS FROM SCOTTS BLUFF AND
NORTHERN MORRILL COUNTY NORTH.  ONE STRONG STORM WAS OVER SCOTTSBLUFF
AND WAS PRODUCING ONE QUARTER INCH DIAMETER HAIL AND HEAVY RAIN.
ANOTHER STRONG STORM WAS DEVELOPING IN NORTHWEST MORRILL COUNTY.  THESE
STORMS WERE MOVING NORTH AT 35 MPH.

THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE IN THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE TODAY.
SOME STORMS COULD BECOME QUITE STRONG WITH THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE
LARGE HAIL AND STRONG WINDS.  HEAVY RAIN IS ALSO A0 POSSIBILITY WITH
THESE STORMS.  BE ALERT TO APPROACHING STORMS TODAY AND LISTEN TO NOAA
WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL RADIO AND TELEVISION STATIONS FOR LATER
STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

HARRISON
Special weather statement, May 23, 12:30 PM MDT, 39 minutes before
NEZ001>003-019-021-054-055-231930-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
1227 PM MDT THU MAY 23 1996

...THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP IN THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE...

AT 1225 PM MDT DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED WIDESPREAD SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS MAINLY IN THE CENTRAL AND NORTHERN PANHANDLE.  A STRONG
STORM WAS LOCATED IN NORTHWEST MORRILL COUNTY MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30
MPH.  THIS STORM WAS PRODUCING SMALL HAIL AND HEAVY RAIN AND WILL MOVE
INTO SOUTH CENTRAL BOX BUTTE COUNTY BY 1245 PM.

THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP THROUGHOUT THE NEBRASKA
PANHANDLE THIS AFTERNOON.  SOME STORMS COULD BECOME QUITE STRONG WITH
THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND STRONG WINDS.  HEAVY RAIN IS
ALSO LIKELY WITH THESE STORMS.  BE ALERT TO APPROACHING STORMS TODAY AND
LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL RADIO AND TELEVISION STATIONS FOR
LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

HARRISON

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Wyoming, 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.