Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 16, NWS Hastings, NE

June 30, 1997Valley County, Nebraska

NWS Hastings, NE issued this tornado warning at Jun 30, 1997, 10:33 PM CDT for Valley County, Nebraska. It was in force for 42 min. 2 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 30, 1997, 10:33 PM CDT (03:33 UTC)
Expired: Jun 30, 1997, 11:15 PM CDT
In force: 42 min
Issued by: NWS Hastings, NE
Area: Whole counties

County Valley County, NE

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 139 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:36 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 30, 10:45 PM CDT	Hail 1	Ord, NE
Jun 30, 11:20 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	North Loup, 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 30, 10:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 00:00Z, 3.6 hours before the alert went out and 144 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: 2999 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1596 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 75 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 217 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.3
Supercell composite: 15.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

185 
WFUS1 KGRI 010333 RRA
TORGRI
NEC175-010415-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
1033 PM CDT MON JUN 30 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HASTINGS NE  HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1115 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL NEBRASKA
 
   ...VALLEY COUNTY
 
HASTINGS DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO HEADED TOWARD ELYRIA
AND ORD AT 1030PM CDT. THE STORM PRODUCING THIS TORNADO WAS LOCATED 65
MILES NORTHWEST OF GRAND ISLAND OR 8 MILES WEST OF ORD. PEOPLE IN ELYRIA
AND ORD CAN EXPECT THE PASSAGE OF THIS STORM AROUND 1045PM
 
THE STORM IS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.  LARGE HAIL AND FUNNEL CLOUDS
HAVE BEEN REPORTED WITH THIS STORM IN LOUP COUNTY.
 
PERSONS IN THE WARNED 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.
 
MLM/LEW
 
 
 
&

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.

NWS Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Jun 30, 3:04 PM CDT, 7 hours 29 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 30, 3:04 PM CDT, 7 hours 29 minutes before

CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
255 PM CDT MON JUN 30 1997

STORM CHANCES TONIGHT AND TUES AND HOW HOT TO GO TUESDAY ARE THE MAIN
QUESTIONS TODAY.

QSTNRY FRONT NORTH OF CWA OVER SRN SDAK AT 18Z WITH DRY TROF OVR WRN
HIGH PLAINS. ALSO NOTED SOME SORT OF WSHFT LINE IN WRN CWA WITH
SWLY FLOW ODX-LXN WWD AND SELY FLOW TO THE EAST WITH MOISTURE CONVG
OVR SC NEB PER ADAP. LTL SFC CAP LEFT...HWVR H7 TEMPS NEAR CAPPING
THRESHHOLD WITH WAA TAKING PLACE. MORN ANALYSIS ALSO SHOWED PLENTY OF
MOISTURE WITH H8 DWPTS 10-15C. MIDLVL WAA FORMING SOME ACCAS WHILE
FEW CU HAVING TROUBLE. PROFILERS PICKED UP ON WK WAVE H7-H5 OVR WRN
HI PLNS ERLYR TDY...BUT BARELY PERCEPTIBLE ON H20 VAP LOOP.

CONV TEMPS IN THE MID 90S MAY NOT BE REACHED FOR AUTOCONV...BUT AM
CONCERNED ABT WSHFT LINE AND WK WAVE WHICH THE ETA TRAKS ACRS NEB THIS
EVE. NGM AND AVN MOVE IT NORTH. PROFLR POSN AGREES WITH ETA AND THIS
IMPULSE MAY TRIGGER ISOLD-WDLY SCT TRW WHERE CAP WEAKEST OVER ERN CWA.
MIDLVL WARMTH LUKS LIKE IT/S SQUELCHING ALL WITH WAVE NOT ACTIVE TO
WEST ATTM...BUT GIVEN UNCERTAINTY...20 PCT CHC THIS EVE STILL LUKS GOOD
SPLY OVR ERN CWA ON CAP FRINGE. GRIDDED ETA 950-900 MOIST CONVG ALSO
FCST THRU 06Z ALONG DRY TROF WHICH DRIFTS INTO NEB CWA. LLJ GETS GOING
IN 2 AREAS TON...BUT W/O FOCUS OVR KS...MOST ACTIVITY FM THIS WL OCCUR
IN SD. WL TEMPER NC KS POPS A BIT DOWNWARD TON WITH H9-H8 MOIST DVRG
NOTED. PERSISTENCE TEMPS IN THE HUMID AIR BTWN 65-70 LUK RSBL.

TRICKY PART OF FCST COMES TUES AS JET AND PAC CST UPR SYS PUNCHES ACRS
NRN PLAINS WITH DRY TROF/CDFNT MOVG THRU CWA. TIMING WL BE CRITICAL
TO SUCCESS. MDLS IN RSBL AGREEMENT WITH DRY TROF TO MOVE THRU WRN CWA
IN THE AM AND MOSTLY THRU ERN CWA AFTN. WSWLY FLOW UPWRD TO H7 WL
EASILY PROMOTE THIS DRYING TREND WITH H8 THTE RIDGE...AND OPPRESSIVE
SFC DWPTS SHOVED TWD ERN NEB WHERE 98O NAILS MDT RISK. WITH UPR DYNX
WELL NORTH...IT APPEARS THAT PSG OF DRYTROF WL BE WITHOUT INCIDENT
OVR WRN COS IN THE MORNING. HV SOME DOUBT OVR ERN COS AS IT MAY NOT CLR
B4 MAX HTG. ALTHO MEAN RH/S ARE QUITE DRY...SFC-H8 DWPTS STILL QUITE
SUFF FOR RAPID CONVECTION ALONG THESE BNDRYS TUES PM WITH PART OF CWA
IN A THREAT. MILD MIDLVLS WL PREVENT OUTBREAK...SO CURNT SPLIT WITH 20
POPS EAST LUKS QUITE GOOD. HRLY SOUNDINGS BOOST MAX AT HSI/HLC/MCK OVR
100. LUKG AT WND DIR...THIS QUITE PSBL AND WL CONTINUE WITH HOT FCST.

SYS WL HV ENUF PUNCH TO BRING DRIER AIR TO RGN TUES NITE/WEDS AND WL
LEAN TWD COLR FAN FOR LOWS. GUID MAXES SEEM RSBL.

GRI UU 069/098/058/084 2200
HEB UU 069/099/059/084 2200
ODX UU 067/097/056/083 2200
LXN UU 065/095/055/083 2100
BLT UU 070/101/061/087 1200

BREWSTER

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 30, 9:54 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Valley	36 min
Jun 30, 10:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Sherman	44 min
Jun 30, 11:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Greeley, Howard, Valley	45 min
Jun 30, 11:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Sherman	45 min
Jul 1, 12:11 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Nance	49 min
Jul 1, 1:06 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Hall	39 min
Jul 1, 1:18 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Polk	27 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Nebraska, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.