Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Hastings, NE

June 20, 1997Merrick County, Polk County, Nebraska

NWS Hastings, NE issued this tornado warning at Jun 20, 1997, 9:45 PM CDT for Merrick County, Polk County, Nebraska. It was in force for 30 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
Jun 20, 1997, 9:45 PM CDT (02:45 UTC)
Expired
Jun 20, 1997, 10:15 PM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Hastings, NE
Area
Whole counties

Counties Merrick County, NE, Polk County, NE

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 110 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:45 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jun 20, 8:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 121 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 1997-06-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 5994 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 1997-06-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 89 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
5994 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1151 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
89 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
186 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
4.8
Supercell composite
25.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

365 
WFUS1 KGRI 210246 RRA
TORGRI
NEC121-143-210315-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
945 PM CDT FRI JUN 20 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HASTINGS NE  HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN CENTRAL NEBRASKA
 
   ...EASTERN MERRICK COUNTY
 
IN EAST CENTRAL NEBRASKA
 
   ...WESTERN POLK COUNTY
 
...AT 943 PM A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND 3 MILES SOUTH OF
CLARKS BY THE COUNTY SHERIFF. TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM INCLUDE
CLARKS AND AREAS ALONG HIGHWAY 92. THE STORM WAS LOCATED 25 MILES
NORHTWEST OF YORK MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH. YOU SHOULD BE IN YOUR TORNADO
SHELTER NOW IF YOU ARE IN EASTERN MERRICK AND WESTERN POLK COUNTIES.
 
IN ADDITION TO THE THREAT OF TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
WINDS ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM.  TAKE COVER NOW.
 
MORITZ
 
 
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 20, 7:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDHoward, Merrick, Nance45 min
Jun 20, 8:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDGreeley51 min
Jun 20, 8:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDHoward, Merrick, Nance46 min
Jun 20, 9:00 PM CDTTornado WarningGIDMerrick45 min
Jun 20, 9:42 PM CDTTornado WarningGIDDawson48 min
Jun 20, 9:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDHoward39 min
Jun 20, 10:04 PM CDTTornado WarningGIDHoward41 min
Jun 20, 10:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDValley47 min
Jun 20, 10:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDNance45 min
Jun 20, 10:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDBuffalo, Sherman49 min
Jun 20, 10:31 PM CDTTornado WarningGIDDawson44 min
Jun 20, 10:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDGreeley, Howard32 min
Jun 20, 11:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDMerrick, Nance45 min
Jun 20, 11:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDHall45 min
Jun 20, 11:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDAdams, Kearney39 min
Jun 20, 11:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDClay, Hamilton50 min
Jun 20, 11:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDPolk50 min
Jun 20, 11:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDBuffalo37 min
Jun 20, 11:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDFillmore, York41 min
Jun 21, 12:19 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDClay, Fillmore41 min
Jun 21, 1:06 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDGosper39 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Nebraska, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.