Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 66, NWS Omaha, NE

October 16, 1996Pierce County, Nebraska

NWS Omaha, NE issued this tornado warning at Oct 16, 1996, 7:12 PM CDT for Pierce County, Nebraska. It was in force for 48 min. 1 report 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
Oct 16, 1996, 7:12 PM CDT (00:12 UTC)
Expired
Oct 16, 1996, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Omaha, NE
Area
Whole counties

County Pierce County, NE

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 147 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:13 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
Oct 16, 7:30 PM CDTHail 1.75Pierce, 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, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 146 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 00:00Z on 1996-10-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1552 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 00:00Z on 1996-10-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 74 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
1552 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-67 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1255 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
74 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
99 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KOMA 170011
TOROMA
NEC139-170100-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
712 PM CDT WED OCT 16 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OMAHA/VALLEY HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHEAST NEBRASKA
 
   ...PIERCE COUNTY
 
AT 712 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 25 MILES WEST NORTHWEST
OF NORFOLK...OR 15 MILES WEST OF PIERCE. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 30 MPH.
COMMUNITIES IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE...PIERCE...FOSTER AND
HADAR.
 
TAKE COVER IN A REINFORCED BUILDING ON THE LOWEST FLOOR IMMEDIATELY.
STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.  DAMAGE REPORTS OR OBSERVED SEVERE WEATHER
SHOULD BBE GIVEN TO A LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY FOR RELAY TO THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE.
 
MILLER

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

Local storm report, Oct 16, 6:55 PM CDT, 17 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
653 PM CDT WED OCT 16 1996

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0650 PM    CLEARWATER                NE   1.75 INCH HAIL
10/16/96   ANTELOPE

ZAPOTOCNY
Local storm report, Oct 16, 7:03 PM CDT, 9 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
702 PM CDT WED OCT 16 1996

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0658, PM    NELIGH                    NE   .75 INCH HAIL
10/16/96   ANTELOPE

ZAPOTOCNY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 16, 7:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXKnox61 min
Oct 16, 7:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXCedar, Wayne64 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.