Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Omaha, NE

May 8, 1996Gage County, Johnson County, Nebraska

NWS Omaha, NE issued this tornado warning at May 8, 1996, 9:29 PM CDT for Gage County, Johnson County, Nebraska. It was in force for 46 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, 9:29 PM CDT (02:29 UTC)
Expired: May 8, 1996, 10:15 PM CDT
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS Omaha, NE
Area: Whole counties

Counties Gage County, NE, Johnson County, NE

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 111 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:29 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, 2.5 hours before the alert went out and 111 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 KOMA 090235
TOROMA
NEC067-097-090315-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
929 PM CDT WED MAY 8 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OMAHA/VALLEY HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA
 
   ...GAGE COUNTY...JOHNSON COUNTY
 
AT 930 PM CDT...RADAR CONTINUED TO INDICATE A TORNADO ABOUT 4 MILES WEST
OF FILLEY...OR ABOUT 8 MILES EAST OF BEATRICE. THE STORM WAS MOVING TO
THE EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE
FILLEY AND CRAB ORCHARD.
 
 
 
 
PEOPLE IN THE WARNED AREA SHOULD MOVE TO A REINFORCED BUILDING ON
THE LOWEST FLOOR TO BE PREPARED FOR THE DESTRUCTIVE WINDS THAT
ACCOMPANY TORNADOES.  IN ADDITION TO THE THREAT OF TORNADOES...
LARGE HAIL...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN ARE LIKELY
WITH THIS STORM.

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 8, 4:09 PM CDT, 5 hours 20 minutes before

NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034-042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-
IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-091200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
410 PM CDT WED MAY 8 1996

...SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA...

SPOTTER ACTION...
STORM SPOTTER GROUPS IN EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA MAY NEED TO
BE ACTIVATED AGAIN LATER THIS EVENING OR TONIGHT.

DISCUSSION...
THERE IS A RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT OVER
EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA.  THE MOST FAVORED AREA FOR SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT WILL BE OVER SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST
IOWA THIS EVENING...WITH A FEW SEVERE STORMS DEVELOPING NORTHWARD INTO
NORTHEAST NEBRASKA AND WEST-CENTRAL IOWA LATER TONIGHT.  THE PRIMARY
THREAT FROM THESE STORMS WILL BE LARGE HAIL...HEAVY RAINFALL AND FLASH
FLOODING.

THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY TO DEVELOP OVER NORTH-CENTRAL KANSAS THIS
EVENING SPREADING NORTHEAST INTO SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST
IOWA.  AS AN UPPER DISTURBANCE APPROACHES THE AREA FROM THE
WEST...THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL GRADUALLY INCREASE FURTHER NORTH INTO
NORTHERN SECTIONS OF NEBRASKA AND WESTERN SECTIONS OF IOWA.

 HINSON/POLLACK

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 8, 8:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Gage, Saline	36 min
May 8, 8:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Gage, Lancaster	48 min
May 8, 8:50 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Gage, Lancaster	40 min
May 8, 9:11 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Jefferson	49 min
May 8, 9:15 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Johnson, Nemaha, Otoe	30 min
May 8, 9:52 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Jefferson	38 min
May 8, 10:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Lancaster, Saunders	54 min
May 8, 10:13 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Johnson	47 min
May 8, 10:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Gage	48 min
May 8, 10:31 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Gage	44 min
May 8, 11:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Dodge	47 min
May 9, 12:25 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Madison, Stanton	50 min
May 9, 12:30 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Burt, Cuming	30 min
May 9, 12:48 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Saline, Seward	42 min
May 9, 1:30 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Lancaster	45 min
May 9, 1:40 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Colfax	50 min
May 9, 3:55 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	OAX	Lancaster, Otoe	5 hr
May 9, 6:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Jefferson	46 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.