Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 33, NWS Cheyenne, WY
NWS Cheyenne, WY issued this tornado warning at Aug 2, 1996, 8:45 PM MDT for Box Butte County, Nebraska. It was in force for 15 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
- Aug 2, 1996, 8:45 PM MDT (02:45 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 2, 1996, 9:00 PM MDT
- In force
- 15 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 02:44 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2, 8:49 PM MDT | Hail 1 | Alliance, 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, 2.8 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 918 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -43 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 3250 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 40 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 62 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 121 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KCYS 030248 TORCYS NEC013-030300- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY 845 PM MDT FRI AUG 2 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHEYENNE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 900 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE ...SOUTHEASTERN BOX BUTTE COUNTY ...THE TORNADO WARNING FOR SOUTHEAST BOX BUTTE COUNTY HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL 9 PM MDT... AT 845 PM MDT...DOPPLER RADAR IN CHEYENNE AND SPOTTER REPORTS FROM EAST AND SOUTH OF ALLIANCE INDICATED ROTATION CONTINUING WITH A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN THAT AREA. THE STORM WAS DEVELOPING WESTWARD...AND SHOULD REMAIN JUST TO THE SOUTH AND EAST OF ALLIANCE THROUGH 9 PM.. FUNNEL CLOUDS WERE REPORTED NEAR ALLIANCE AS LATE AS 835 PM. IF YOU LIVE NEAR ALLIANCE...YOU SHOULD TAKE COVER NOW! DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED STRONG ROTATION IN THIS STORM. IT HAS THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY MOMENT! SULLIVAN &
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, Aug 2, 4:42 PM MDT, 4 hours 3 minutes before
WYZ065-066-069-022330- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY 441 PM MDT FRI AUG 2 1996 ...1/2 INCH HAIL REPORTED IN THE LARAMIE RANGE... AT 434 PM...A STORM SPOTTER NEAR THE AMES MONUMENT IN THE LARAMIE RANGE REPORTED 1/4 TO 1/2 INCH HAIL WITH A STORM THAT HAD JUST PASSED OVER THE AREA. DOPPLER RADAR IN CHEYENNE SHOWED THE STORM TO BE CENTERED ON INTERSTATE 80 BETWEEN MILE MARKERS 335 AND 348 WEST OF CHEYENNE AT 438 PM. THIS STORM WILL LIKELY CONTINUE TO PRODUCE 1/2 INCH HAIL AND WIND GUSTS TO AROUND 40 MILES AN HOUR AS IT MOVES EAST 35 MILES AN HOUR. IF YOU PLAN TO DRIVE ON I-80 WEST OF CHEYENNE...YOU SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR HAIL...STRONG WINDS ANDh HEAVY RAIN. IF NECESSARY...PULL OVER AND WAIT UNTIL AFTER THE STORM PASSES. THE STORM SHOULD APPROACH SOUTH CHEYENNE AROUND 5 PM. WCJIN-WYSE SULLIVAN
Special weather statement, Aug 2, 5:28 PM MDT, 3 hours 17 minutes before
WYZ065-066-069-022330- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY 527 PM MDT FRI AUG 2 1996 ...PEA TO MARBLE SIZED HAIL REPORTED REPORTED SOUTH OF CHEYENNE... AT 525 PM...DOPPLER RADAR IN CHEYENNE CONTINUED TO SHOW A STRONG THUNDERSTORM BETWEEN CHEYENNE AND THE COLORADO BORDER. PEA TO MARBLE SIZED HAIL WAS REPORTED NEAR THE HIGHWAY 85 PORT OF ENTRY AT 520 PM. THE STORM PRODUCING THIS HAIL WAS MOVING EAST-SOUTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR. IT WILL LIKELY CONTINUE TO PRODUCE SOME SMALL HAIL AND VERY HEAVY RAIN AS IT TRACKS EAST. WITH THE HEAVIER DOWNPOURS...SOME OTHERWISE DRY CREEKBEDS IN AND NEAR PORTER CREEK WILL LIKELY FILL RAPIDLY WITH WATER. NEVER ATTEMPT TO DRIVE ACROSS ANY WATER-COVERED ROADWAYS. MOST VEHICLES CAN BE WASHED AWAY BY LESS THAN 2 FEET OF RUNNING WATER. WCJIN-WYSE SULLIVAN
Special weather statement, Aug 2, 7:10 PM MDT, 1 hour 35 minutes before
NEZ019-020-054-030145- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY 708 PM MDT FRI AUG 2 1996 ...STRONG WINDS WERE OCCURRING SOUTHWEST OF HARRISBURG... AT 702 PM MDT...50 MPH WINDS WERE RECORDED AT A MISSILE SITE 12 MILES WEST OF HARRISBURG IN WESTERN BANNER COUNTY. THE STORM PRODUCING THESE STRONG WINDS WAS PRODUCING VERY LITTLE RAINFALL...AND NO HAIL HAS BEEN REPORTED. WINDS OF 45 TO 55 MPH WILL LIKELY OCCUR ON HIGHWA4Y 71 IN BANNER COUNTY BY 715 PM. IF YOU ARE TRAVELLING THIS STRETCH OF ROADWAY...YOU SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR THESE WINDS. HIGH PROFILE VEHICLES SHOULD CONSIDER PULLING OVER UNTIL AFTER THE GUST FRONT PASSES. SULLIVAN &
Special weather statement, Aug 2, 7:39 PM MDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before
NEZ002-003-019-021-030230- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY 737 PM MDT FRI AUG 2 1996 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH THE PANHANDLE... AT 735 PM MDT...DOPPLER RADAR IN CHEYENNE SHOWED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM 19 MILES NORTHWEST OF ALLIANCE TO NEAR BRIDGEPORT. SOME OF THESE STORMS WERE LIKELY PRODUCING PEA TO MARBLE-SIZED HAIL AND WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 40 MILES AN HOUR. THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. THE COMMUNITIES OF HEMMINGFORD...BEREA...ALLIANCE...AND BRIDGEPORT WILL SEE THE BRUNT OF THESE STORMS BETWEEN 740 AND 750 PM. ALL THUNDERSTORMS CONTAIN DEADLY LIGHTNING. STAY AWAY FROM WATER AND ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE NEAR. SULLIVAN
The office that day
Everything else NWS Cheyenne, WY issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 2, 7:56 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | CYS | Box Butte | 34 min |
| Aug 2, 8:02 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | CYS | Box Butte | 28 min |
| Aug 2, 8:13 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CYS | Morrill | 32 min |
| Aug 2, 8:30 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | CYS | Box Butte | 15 min |
| Aug 2, 8:30 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | CYS | Morrill | 30 min |
| Aug 3, 3:41 PM MDT | Flash Flood Warning | CYS | Sioux | 19 min |
| Aug 3, 3:41 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CYS | Sioux | 19 min |
| Aug 3, 4:05 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CYS | Box Butte | 25 min |
| Aug 3, 4:29 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CYS | Box Butte | 31 min |
| Aug 3, 5:15 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CYS | Box Butte | 45 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.