Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Hastings, NE

May 8, 1996Thayer County, Nebraska

NWS Hastings, NE issued this tornado warning at May 8, 1996, 9:15 PM CDT for Thayer County, Nebraska. It was in force for 15 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 8, 1996, 9:15 PM CDT (02:15 UTC)
Expired: May 8, 1996, 9:30 PM CDT
In force: 15 min
Issued by: NWS Hastings, NE
Area: Whole counties

County Thayer County, NE

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:18 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 2.3 hours before the alert went out and 164 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1091 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -45 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 739 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 94 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 84 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 3.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGRI 090217
TORGRI
NEC169-090230-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
915 PM CDT WED MAY 8 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HASTINGS NE  HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  930 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA
 
   ...THAYER COUNTY
 
AT 913 PM THE THAYER COUNTY SHERIFF REPORTED TWO TORNAODES ON THE
GROUND...ONE NORTHEAST AND ONE SOUTHEAST OF GILEAD. GILEAD IS 60 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF HASTINGS. THE TORNAODES WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MILES
AN HOUR TOWARD THE COUNTY LINE. TAKE COVER NOW. PEOPLE IN AND NEAR
GILEAD AND ALEXANDRIA SHOULD BE IN THEIR TORNAOD SHELTER.
 
 
PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO SHOULD TAKE COVER IN A REINFORCED
SHELTER.
 
DROZD
 
 
&

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.

NWS Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at May 8, 2:52 PM CDT, 6 hours 23 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 8, 2:52 PM CDT, 6 hours 23 minutes before

CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
245 PM CDT WED MAY 8 1996

OBVIOUS IMMEDIATE FCST PROBS WITH SVR WX AND HVY RAIN PRODUCING STORMS
TONIGHT.

MIDDAY MESO ANALYSIS OF SFC OBS SHOWED WMFNT ACRS N CNTRL KS FM BTWN
RSL AND SLN TO JUST S OF CNK AND E THRU NE KS. MULTIPLE OUTFLOW
BOUNDARIES FLOATING AROUND CWA AS NOTED ON 1KM RES SAT PIX AND KUEX.
EYBALLS ARE ON N-S BNDRY INTERSECTING WMFNT JUST TO S OF NC KS CWA IN
SUNNY AND HUMID AMS. ADAP CHTS SHOW INCRG SURFACE MOISTURE
CONVERGENCE...WITH AMS DESTABILIZING AND CAP WEAKENING.  MODIFIED 18Z
TOP RAOB RATHER FRIGHTFUL WITH 2500 J/KG CAPE AND UNSTABLE
INDICES...WL HOPE FOR CAP TO HOLD FOR A COUPLE MORE HOURS.

AMS STILL QUITE STABLE ACRS NEB CWA...BUT YET ANOTHER MDLVL S/WV AND
SUPPORTING RRQ OF JETLET MOVING ACRS INTERMTN RGN WL POP TSTMS TON ACRS
NEB. LUKG FOR DOUBLE WHAMMY WITH NC KS EXTRM SRN NEB TO EXPERIENCE RAPID
TSTM DVLPMNT LATER THIS PM. STORMS SHUD PROPAGATE N-NEWD AS LLVL JET
INCRS ERLY THIS EVE...THEN ADDNL CONVECTION LATER. WET BULB ZEROS POINT
TO HAIL THIS EVE...YET ENERGY HELICITY INDEXES...AND STORM RELATIVE
HELICITIES POINT TO PSBL ISOLD TORN DVLPMNT. BEST CHC FOR THAT WUD BE
KS IN AREA OF MAX HEATING TDY AND STNGST LLJ.

ANOTHER CONCERN...MAINLY SC NEB WL BE HVY RAIN LATER TON AS MCS FORMS
AND PROPAGATES ALONG THETAE AXIS PROGGED TO BE ALONG NEB/KS BORDER. HV
COORD WITH OMA AND TOP AND FFA WL BE ISSUED FOR SERN PTN OF NEB CWA...
PSBLY ERN SXNS NC KS CWA TON AS LAST NIGHTS RAINS DROPPED SWATH OF 1-3"
AMOUNTS FROM HSI TO YRK WITH LOCALIZED FLOODING.

CHCS TSTMS CONTINUE AGAIN THURS NITE...AS MIDLVL TROF IN NRN STREAM
PUSHES CDFNT STALLING OUT TONIGHT OVER WRN DAKS INTO CWA. FINALLY SEE A
CHG OF AMS ON HORIZON INTO FRI WITH LIKELY END TO SVR WX...FOR A BIT.

FAN/FWC GUID NUMBERS LOOK CLOSE AND RSNBL.

GRI 055/072 63         LXN 050/073 53
ODX 052/071 62         HEB 057/073 63
BLT 059/086 42

BREWSTER

The office that day

Everything else NWS Hastings, NE issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 8, 8:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Thayer	45 min
May 8, 8:34 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GID	Thayer	41 min
May 8, 9:25 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GID	Thayer	35 min
May 9, 12:34 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Hamilton, York	26 min
May 9, 1:29 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Adams	31 min
May 9, 1:43 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Clay	32 min
May 9, 2:19 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Fillmore	41 min
May 9, 6:03 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Hall, Hamilton	27 min
May 9, 6:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Thayer	43 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Nebraska, 1996 Every tornado warning in 1996 Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.