Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 16, NWS Omaha, NE
NWS Omaha, NE issued this tornado warning at May 22, 1996, 8:32 PM CDT for Lancaster County, Nebraska. It was in force for 43 min. 3 reports 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 22, 1996, 8:32 PM CDT (01:32 UTC)
- Expired
- May 22, 1996, 9:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 43 min
- Issued by
- NWS Omaha, NE
- Area
- Whole counties
County Lancaster County, NE
The radar
The Omaha radar (KOAX), 65 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:35 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 22, 8:52 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 72 | Lincoln Arpt, NE | |
| May 22, 8:55 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Lincoln, NE | |
| May 22, 9:14 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Lincoln, 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
Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 1.5 hours before the alert went out and 65 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1697 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 50 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 147 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 501 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KOMA 230135 TOROMA NEC109-230215- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 832 PM CDT WED MAY 22 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OMAHA/VALLEY HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 915 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN EAST CENTRAL NEBRASKA ...LANCASTER COUNTY A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND IN SEWARD COUNTY BETWEEN MILFORD AND PLEASANT DALE AT 830 PM CDT. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM ARE EMERALD...DENTON...AND IF THE TORNADO REMAINS ON THE GROUND LINCOLN WOULD ALSO BE IN ITS PATH. PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO SHOULD TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY TO SAVE YOUR LIVES. MOVE TO A STURDY BUILDING...A BASEMENT IF POSSIBLE ...AND COVER YOUR HEAD FROM FLYING DEBRIS. & FOBERT
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 22, 4:01 PM CDT, 4 hours 31 minutes before
NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034-042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093- IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-231200- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 4PM CDT WED MAY 22 1996 ...SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA... SPOTTER ACTION... STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED TONIGHT IN EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA. DISCUSSION... DEVELOPING LOW PRESSURE IN THE CENTRAL ROCKIES WILL BRING INCREASED MOISTURE AND UNSTABLE AIR INTO THE REGION BY LATE AFTERNOON. A WARM FRONT LIFTING THROUGH NORTHERN KANSAS WILL BE THE FOCAL POINT FOR THUNDERSTORMS. SOME OF THESE STORMS ARE LIKELY TO BE SEVERE IN EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA DURING THE EVENING. THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL REMAIN NEARLY STATIONARY IN SOUTHERN NEBRASKA OR NORTHERN KANSAS...PROVIDING ANOTHER CHANCE FOR SEVERE STORMS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND NIGHT. ZAPOTOCNY
The office that day
Everything else NWS Omaha, NE issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 22, 7:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Cass, Otoe | 59 min |
| May 22, 7:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Gage | 57 min |
| May 22, 8:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Pawnee | 60 min |
| May 22, 8:07 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Seward | 53 min |
| May 22, 8:09 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Gage, Pawnee | 36 min |
| May 22, 8:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Pawnee | 48 min |
| May 22, 9:08 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Cass, Lancaster, Otoe | 37 min |
| May 22, 9:38 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Cass, Otoe | 52 min |
| May 22, 10:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Butler, Colfax | 40 min |
| May 22, 10:36 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Dodge, Saunders | 54 min |
| May 22, 10:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Richardson | 61 min |
| May 22, 10:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Gage, Jefferson | 57 min |
| May 22, 11:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Johnson | 44 min |
| May 22, 11:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Douglas, Sarpy | 55 min |
| May 22, 11:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Washington | 55 min |
| May 22, 11:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Jefferson | 65 min |
| May 23, 12:09 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Richardson | 21 min |
| May 23, 12:28 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Gage | 62 min |
| May 23, 12:39 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | OAX | Gage, Pawnee | 6 hr |
| May 23, 12:39 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | OAX | Jefferson | 6 hr |
| May 23, 1:09 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Johnson, Pawnee | 66 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.