Alert archive / Nebraska / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 49, NWS Cheyenne, WY

June 20, 1997Cheyenne County, Kimball County, Nebraska

NWS Cheyenne, WY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 20, 1997, 5:27 PM MDT for Cheyenne County, Kimball County, Nebraska. It was in force for 43 min. 3 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, 5:27 PM MDT (23:27 UTC)
Expired
Jun 20, 1997, 6:10 PM MDT
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Cheyenne, WY
Area
Whole counties

Counties Cheyenne County, NE, Kimball County, NE

The radar

The Cheyenne radar (KCYS), 122 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:28 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, 5:38 PM MDTHail 1.5Dix, NE
Jun 20, 5:45 PM MDTHail 1Potter, NE
Jun 20, 6:17 PM MDTHail 1.75Sidney, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jun 20, 2:30 PM MDTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 149 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, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 1997-06-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 1997-06-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 65 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
3898 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
65 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
59 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCYS 202328 RRA
SVRCYS
NEC033-105-210010-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
527 PM MDT FRI JUN 20 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  NORTHEAST KIMBALL COUNTY IN WESTERN NEBRASKA PANHANDLE
  WESTERN CHEYENNE COUNTY IN WESTERN NEBRASKA PANHANDLE

* UNTIL 610 PM MDT

* SOME AFFECTED LOCATIONS INCLUDE
  POTTER BY 540 PM
  DIX BY 530 PM
  BROWNSON BY 540 PM
  LORENZO BY 550 PM

* AT 522 PM...CHEYENNE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
 15 MILES WEST OF SIDENY AND 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF KIMBALL.  THE
 SEVERE STORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.  AT 520 PM...ONW HALF 
 INCH DIAMETER HAIL WAS REPORTED JUST SOUTH OF KIMBALL. 
 
LARGE HAIL IS LIKELY WITH THIS STORM.  SEEK SHELTER INSIDE A STURDY
BUILDING AWAY FROM ALL WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM PASSES.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT...SO ANY STORMS MAY PRODUCE
TORNADOES WITH LITTLE NOTICE. 

WEILAND

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 58 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 57 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 20, 2:32 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSBanner48 min
Jun 20, 2:47 PM MDTTornado WarningCYSBanner48 min
Jun 20, 3:18 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSDawes47 min
Jun 20, 3:27 PM MDTTornado WarningCYSKimball33 min
Jun 20, 3:33 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSBanner32 min
Jun 20, 3:39 PM MDTTornado WarningCYSBox Butte31 min
Jun 20, 4:02 PM MDTTornado WarningCYSCheyenne, Kimball48 min
Jun 20, 4:08 PM MDTTornado WarningCYSBox Butte17 min
Jun 20, 4:13 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSKimball47 min
Jun 20, 4:42 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSBox Butte33 min
Jun 20, 4:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSKimball45 min
Jun 20, 5:20 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSBox Butte45 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.