Alert archive / Nebraska / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 46, NWS Cheyenne, WY
NWS Cheyenne, WY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 20, 1997, 4:42 PM MDT for Box Butte County, Nebraska. It was in force for 33 min. 4 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, 1997, 4:42 PM MDT (22:42 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 20, 1997, 5:15 PM MDT
- In force
- 33 min
- Issued by
- NWS Cheyenne, WY
- Area
- Whole counties
County Box Butte County, NE
The radar
The Cheyenne radar (KCYS), 186 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:42 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 20, 4:47 PM MDT | Hail 1.75 | Hemingford, NE | |
| Jun 20, 4:50 PM MDT | Hail 0.75 | Hemingford, NE | |
| Jun 20, 4:50 PM MDT | Hail 1.75 | Berea, NE | |
| Jun 20, 5:12 PM MDT | Hail 3 | Alliance, 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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 20, 2:30 PM MDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 7 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Rapid City, SD (KUNR), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 206 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
- 1334 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 70 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -7 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 187 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.8
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KCYS 202243 RRA SVRCYS NEC013-202315- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY 442 PM MDT FRI JUN 20 1997 * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR NORTHERN BOX BUTTE COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN NEBRASKA PANHANDLE * UNTIL 515 PM MDT * SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED HEMINGFORD NOW BEREA BY 442 PM MDT INTERSECTION OF HWYS 87 AND 385 BY 443 PM MDT INTERSECTION OF HWYS 7A AND 385 BY 454 PM MDT * AT 439 PM MDT...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY DOPPLER RADAR AND SPOTTER REPORTS 16 MILES NORTHWEST OF ALLIANCE OR 5 MILES WEST OF INTERSECTION OF HWYS 87 AND 385 MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH. SPOTTERS REPORT HAIL THE SIZE OF GOLFBALLS WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM AT THE 6 MILES WEST OF HEMINGFORD. A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE TORNADOES. STRONG WINDS WITH THIS STORM MAY CAUSE INJURY OR DAMAG.E. TAKE SHELTER INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING AWAY FROM ALL DOORS AND WINDOWS. LRE &
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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, Jun 20, 2:29 PM MDT, 2 hours 13 minutes before
WYZ060-068-NEZ001>003-019>021-054-055-210300- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY 230 PM MDT FRI JUN 20 1997 A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE AND PARTS OF SOUTHEAST WYOMING AND IS VALID UNTIL 9 PM. COUNTIES IN THE PANHANDLE INCLUDE SIOUX...DAWES...BOX BUTTE...MORRILL ...CHEYENNE...SCOTTS BLUFF...BANNER AND KIMBALL. SOME CITIES INCLUDED IN THE WATCH ARE HARRISON...CHADRON...ALLIANCE...BRIDGEPORT...SIDNEY ...KIMBALL...HARRISBURG...AND SCOTTSBLUFF/GERING. COUNTIES IN WYOMING INCLUDED IN THE WATCH ARE GOSHEN...AND SOUTHERN NIOBRARA. SOME CITIES AND TOWNS IN THE WATCH ARE LUSK...AND TORRINGTON. A MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS IS IN PLACE OVER SOUTHEAST WYOMING AND THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE. AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVING THROUGH THE AREA WILL RESULT IN SOME STRONG THUNDERSTORMS. SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD COULD PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND TORNADOES ALONG WITH HEAVY RAIN. PEOPLE IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD BE ALERT TO APPROACHING STORMS AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER. LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL TELEVISION AND RADIO STATIONS AS WELL AS YOUR CABLE TELEVISION PROVIDER FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND WARNING. WCJIN-WYNE-WYSE LRE
Special weather statement, Jun 20, 2:30 PM MDT, 2 hours 12 minutes before
WYZ060-068-NEZ001>003-019>021-054-055-210300- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY 230 PM MDT FRI JUN 20 1997 A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE AND PARTS OF SOUTHEAST WYOMING AND IS VALID UNTIL 9 PM. COUNTIES IN THE PANHANDLE INCLUDE SIOUX...DAWES...BOX BUTTE...MORRILL ...CHEYENNE...SCOTTS BLUFF...BANNER AND KIMBALL. SOME CITIES INCLUDED IN THE WATCH ARE HARRISON...CHADRON...ALLIANCE...BRIDGEPORT...SIDNEY ...KIMBALL...HARRISBURG...AND SCOTTSBLUFF/GERING. COUNTIES IN WYOMING INCLUDED IN THE WATCH ARE GOSHEN...AND SOUTHERN NIOBRARA. SOME CITIES AND TOWNS IN THE WATCH ARE LUSK...AND TORRINGTON. A MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS IS IN PLACE OVER SOUTHEAST WYOMING AND THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE. AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE MOVING THROUGH THE AREA WILL RESULT IN SOME STRONG THUNDERSTORMS. SOME OF THESE STORMS COULD COULD PRODUCE LARGE HAIL AND TORNADOES ALONG WITH HEAVY RAIN. PEOPLE IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD BE ALERT TO APPROACHING STORMS AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER. LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL TELEVISION AND RADIO STATIONS AS WELL AS YOUR CABLE TELEVISION PROVIDER FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND WARNING. WCJIN-WYNE-WYSE LRE
The office that day
Everything else NWS Cheyenne, WY issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 20, 2:32 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CYS | Banner | 48 min |
| Jun 20, 2:47 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | CYS | Banner | 48 min |
| Jun 20, 3:18 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CYS | Dawes | 47 min |
| Jun 20, 3:27 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | CYS | Kimball | 33 min |
| Jun 20, 3:33 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CYS | Banner | 32 min |
| Jun 20, 3:39 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | CYS | Box Butte | 31 min |
| Jun 20, 4:02 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | CYS | Cheyenne, Kimball | 48 min |
| Jun 20, 4:08 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | CYS | Box Butte | 17 min |
| Jun 20, 4:13 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CYS | Kimball | 47 min |
| Jun 20, 4:45 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CYS | Kimball | 45 min |
| Jun 20, 5:20 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CYS | Box Butte | 45 min |
| Jun 20, 5:27 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CYS | Cheyenne, Kimball | 43 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Nebraska, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1997
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.