Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 63, NWS Omaha, NE

August 4, 1996Colfax County, Dodge County, Nebraska

NWS Omaha, NE issued this tornado warning at Aug 4, 1996, 6:43 PM CDT for Colfax County, Dodge County, Nebraska. It was in force for 32 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: Aug 4, 1996, 6:43 PM CDT (23:43 UTC)
Expired: Aug 4, 1996, 7:15 PM CDT
In force: 32 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 23:43 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 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-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: 2244 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -80 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 589 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 195 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 264 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.8
Supercell composite: 14.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KOMA 042345
TOROMA
NEC037-053-050015-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
643 PM CDT SUN AUG 4 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OMAHA/VALLEY HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL NEBRASKA
 
   ...EASTERN COLFAX COUNTY...WESTERN DODGE COUNTY
 
A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR JUST
NORTH OF SCHUYLER...15 MILES EAST OF COLUMBUS. THE STORM WAS MOVING TO
THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE ROGERS
AND NOORTH BEND.
 
THIS WARNING REPLACES THE PREVIOUS ISSUED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING.
 
PERSONS IN THE WARNE^D 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.
 
 
BYRD

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, Aug 4, 1:36 PM CDT, 5 hours 7 minutes before

NEZ011-012-016>018-030>034-040>053-061>066-072>078-081>087-
IAZ043-055-056-069-050100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
135 PM CDT SUN AUG 4 1996

...TORNADO WATCH NORTHEAST THROUGH SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA UNTIL 8 PM
   CDT...

A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING THROUGH SOUTHWEST...CENTRAL...
AND NORTHEAST NEBRASKA IS EXPECTED TO INTENSIFY DURING THE MID
AND LATE AFTERNOON.  THIS LINE COULD PRODUCE SEVERE WEATHER AND
TORNADOES INTO THIS EVENING.  THE LINE IS NOT EXPECTED TO MOVE
MUCH UNTIL LATE AFTERNOON...WHEN IT IS LIKELY TO BEGIN MOVING
TOWARD THE SOUTHEAST.

AS A RESULT OF THE SLOW MOVEMENT...LOCALLY EXCESSIVE RAINS ARE A
THREAT ALONG WITH THE SEVERE WEATHER...SINCE NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS
COULD TRACK OVER THE SAME AREA.  THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO
REACH GRAND ISLAND BEFORE 3 PM OR HASTINGS BEFORE 4 PM.  THE OMAHA
AND LINCOLN METROPOLITAN AREAS ARE UNLIKELY TO BE THREATENED WITH
SEVERE WEATHER BEFORE 6 PM.  NORFOLK...KEARNEY...AND MC COOK COULD
RECEIVE SEVERE WEATHER ANY TIME THIS AFTERNOON.

IF SEVERE WEATHER DEVELOPS...WARNINGS WILL BE ISSUED.  STAY TUNED
TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL NEWS MEDIA FOR THE LATEST
WEATHER INFORMATION AND BE READY TO TAKE QUICK ACTION IF A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM OR TORNADO WARNING IS ISSUED.

POLLACK

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 4, 3:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Madison, Platte	69 min
Aug 4, 4:05 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Cuming, Stanton	55 min
Aug 4, 4:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Cuming, Thurston	64 min
Aug 4, 5:12 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	OAX	Cuming, Stanton	4 hr
Aug 4, 5:12 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	OAX	Thurston	4 hr
Aug 4, 5:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Cuming, Stanton	46 min
Aug 4, 6:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Colfax, Dodge	68 min
Aug 4, 6:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Butler	49 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.