Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 29, NWS Omaha, NE

June 20, 1996Colfax County, Dodge County, Nebraska

NWS Omaha, NE issued this tornado warning at Jun 20, 1996, 6:39 PM CDT for Colfax County, Dodge County, Nebraska. It was in force for 51 min. 5 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
Jun 20, 1996, 6:39 PM CDT (23:39 UTC)
Expired
Jun 20, 1996, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Omaha, NE
Area
Whole counties

Counties Colfax County, NE, Dodge County, NE

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 51 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:40 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
Jun 20, 6:40 PM CDTTornado F0Howells, NE
Jun 20, 6:40 PM CDTHail 1.75Howells, NE
Jun 20, 6:47 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 61Hooper, NE
Jun 20, 6:50 PM CDTHail 1.75Snyder, NE
Jun 20, 7:27 PM CDTHail 2.5Uehling, 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 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 50 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 1996-06-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2885 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 1996-06-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 145 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
2885 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-108 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
717 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
145 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
147 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
10.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KOMA 202340
TOROMA
NEC037-053-210030-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
639 PM CDT THU JUN 20 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OMAHA/VALLEY HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL NEBRASKA
 
   ...NORTHEASTERN COLFAX COUNTY...DODGE COUNTY
 
AT 638 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR HOWELLS...OR
30 MILES SOUTHEAST OF NORFOLK. THE STORM IS MOVING SOUTHEAST TOWARD
DODGE...SNYDER...SCRIBNER AND HOOPER.  THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.
 
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.
 
MILLER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 19, 7:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXCedar33 min
Jun 20, 7:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXMadison, Stanton30 min
Jun 20, 7:43 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXColfax, Dodge62 min
Jun 20, 8:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXDouglas61 min
Jun 20, 8:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXBurt, Washington61 min
Jun 20, 2:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXWayne45 min
Jun 20, 5:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXCuming, Stanton54 min
Jun 20, 6:27 PM CDTTornado WarningOAXCuming, Stanton33 min
Jun 20, 6:34 PM CDTTornado WarningOAXBurt41 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.