Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 20, NWS Hastings, NE

July 16, 1996Polk County, Nebraska

NWS Hastings, NE issued this tornado warning at Jul 16, 1996, 6:39 PM CDT for Polk County, Nebraska. It was in force for 36 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
Jul 16, 1996, 6:39 PM CDT (23:39 UTC)
Expired
Jul 16, 1996, 7:15 PM CDT
In force
36 min
Issued by
NWS Hastings, NE
Area
Whole counties

County Polk County, NE

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 101 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 1996-07-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 60 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 1996-07-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 41 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
60 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-172 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1676 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
41 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
254 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGRI 162341
TORGRI
NEC143-170015-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
639 PM CDT TUE JUL 16 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HASTINGS NE  HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL NEBRASKA
 
   ...NORTHEASTERN POLK COUNTY
 
PERSONS IN EXTREME NORTHEAST POLK COUNTY SHOULD BE IN A SHELTER NOW!
 
AT 635 PM DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 2 1/2 MILES WEST
AND 1 MILE SOUTH OF MONROE OR 12 MILES WEST OF COLUMBUS  MOVING TO THE
SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH OVER OPEN FARMLAND.
 
THE STORM SHOULD TRACK EAST OF SILVER CREEK TOWARD HIWAY 30 AND THE
PLATTE RIVER.
 
PERSONS IN THE* PATH OF THE STORM SHOULD TAKE SHELTER NOW!
 
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.
 
 
GRIFFITH/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.

NWS Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Jul 16, 2:44 PM CDT, 3 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 16, 2:44 PM CDT, 3 hours 55 minutes before
CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
235 PM CDT TUE JUL 16 1996

LOCATION OF INITIAL FIRING OF NEXT ROUND OF CONVECTION BIGGEST PROBLEM
IN THE SHORT TERM.

QUITE THE COMPLEX SYNOPTIC AND MESOSCALE SITUATION IN THE AREA TODAY.
12Z UA ANALYSIS INDICATED MOISTURE AXIS FROM DEEP SOUTH INTO WESTERN
NEBRASKA WITH H8 DWPTS 15C+. H8 WMFNT WAS WELL DEFINED FROM WRN ND INTO
ERN NEB. FRONTOGENESIS WAS NOTED AT H7 AS QVECTORS WERE ALIGNED NORMAL
TO THE BAROCLINIC ZONE OVER ERN NEB/SD FROM COLD TO WARM. BLV
INTERACTION BETWEEN S/WV MOVG ACRS NRN NEB THIS AM AND MIDLVL WMFNTS
ACCOUNTS FOR MORNING TSTMS THAT REDEVELOPED OVER ERN CWA.
ANALYSIS...SATL AND PROFILERS TODAY ALSO INDICATED MINOR S/WV TROF MOVG
THRU WRN WY TO WRN NM.

AT THE SFC...TROF OF LOW PRES CONTUS TO STRENGHTHEN AND SOME SORT OF
THERMAL BOUNDARY WAS DEVELOPING BETWEEN THE SUNNY AND CLOUDY AREAS
ALONG THE NEB/KS BORDER. HARD TO SAY IF THIS IS TRUE SYNOPTIC
WMFRONTOGENESIS AS INDICATORS WERE WEAK AT BEST. NONE-THE-LESS THERE/S
A BOUNDARY TO CONTEND WITH ALONG THE BORDER.

FELT NGM HANDLED S/WVS BEST AND MOST CONSISTENTLY LAST FEW DAYS AND WL
FLW THRU FCST. AS INTERMOUNTAIN S/WV MOVES INTO PLAINS TON...TUFF CALL
AS TO WHERE INITIAL REDEVELOPMENT WILL OCCUR. MODIFIED LBF SOUNDING
STILL HELD A 2-3C MIDLVL CAP...WITH OMA MODIFIED DOWN TO NO CAP. PLENTY
OF SS ACROSS WRN PANHANDLE AND NW KS TAFTN WITH ...SO ALL SHUD POINT TO
DLVPMNT OVER NW KS/SC NEB. BLV ORGANIZED CONVECTION AND MCS WL FORM
LATER THIS EVE AS STORMS INTERACT WITH AFOREMENTIONED MIDLVL FRONTS
OVER SCNTRL-ERN NEB. THEREFORE HIEST POPS PROBABLY EAST OF US281 AND
NORTH OF KS BORDER TON WITH HVY RAIN LIKELY.

AFT THIS EVE...PAC CST UPR LOW DIGS SWWD WITH A RIDGING RESPONSE AND
MID-LLVL WARMING OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS. NEVER REALLY SEE A SOLID WLY
DOWNSLOPE COMPONENT...AND WITH DWPTS STILL TO REMAIN MDTLY HI...WL FLW
COLR FWC GUID ON MAXES. H7 TEMPS GO ABV CAPPING THRESHHOLD AFT TON...SO
LUKS LIKE GUID POPS ARE PEGGING CLIMO VALUES AS S/WV ENERGY RIDES NORTH
OF CWA. WL HV TO WATCH WK TX S/WV PROGGED TO MOV ACRS KS THO.

GRI 067/091 41              HBR 068/091 52
ODX 065/093 41              BLT 068/094 20
LXN 063/091 30

BREWSTER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 16, 5:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDNance50 min
Jul 16, 5:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDNance35 min
Jul 16, 6:04 PM CDTTornado WarningGIDNance26 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.