Alert archive / Nebraska / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 11, NWS North Platte, NE

June 1, 1997Cherry County, Nebraska

NWS North Platte, NE issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 1, 1997, 8:32 PM MDT for Cherry County, Nebraska. It was in force for 63 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 1, 1997, 8:32 PM MDT (02:32 UTC)
Expired
Jun 1, 1997, 9:35 PM MDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS North Platte, NE
Area
Whole counties

County Cherry County, NE

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:31 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 nearest sounding before it

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 00:00Z, 2.5 hours before the alert went out and 163 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, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 1997-06-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 185 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, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 1997-06-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 51 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
185 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-208 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1822 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
51 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
162 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLBF 020232 RRA
SVRLBF
NEC031-020335-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
932 PM CDT (832 PM MDT) SUN JUN 1 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTH PLATTE NE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1035 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA

   ...SOUTHWESTERN CHERRY COUNTY
 
AT 929 PM CDT...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY NORTH PLATTE
DOPPLER RADAR 47 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF ALLIANCE OR 38 MILES SOUTH
SOUTHWEST OF MERRIMAN MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

THIS STORM IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN RURAL AREAS.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH
LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM
YOU SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING AND GO TO THE LOWEST FLOOR
POSSIBLE.
JRS/KAR

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.

NWS North Platte, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jun 1, 1:52 PM MDT, 6 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 1, 1:52 PM MDT, 6 hours 40 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
250 PM CDT SUN JUN 1 1997

PROBLEMS INCLUDE WHEN...WHERE AND HOW BAD TSTMS WILL BE BY THE TIME
THEY REACH OUR CWA.

18Z SFC WITH COOL FRONT THROUGH THE ERN DAKS INTO SERN WY AND DRY LINE/
TROF FROM SERN CO INTO NEW MEX.  A JUICY AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS AWAITS
OVER THE HIGH PLAINS WITH A POOL OF 60 PLUS DEW PTS FROM MCK UP INTO THE
DAKS AND ADDITIONAL MOISTURE ADVECTION FROM TX UP INTO SW KS. ADAP WITH
LIFTEDS OF GREATER THAN -6 OVER THE PANHANDLE AND VERY LITTLE REMAINING
CAP. VIS SATL...KCYS AND KFTG WITH CONVECTION INITATING FROM SERN WY DOWN
INTO CO.

THROUGH THE EVENING BEST CAPE...THETAE...AND LIFT REMAIN WEST OF CWA OVR
PANHANDLE AND WOULD EXPECT TSTMS TO FIRE NEAR FRONT AND MOVE SOUTHEAST
REACHING WESTERN PART OF CWA BY MID TO LATE EVENING.  QUESTION IS HOW
LONG CAN TSTMS HOLD TOGEATHER MOVING INTO MORE STABLE ATMOS.  IN THE
LONGER TERM MODELS SLOW MOVMENT OF SFC FRONT BEFORE WASHING OUT.
THETAE RIDGE ALONG WITH BETTER LIFT MOVE INTO CWA AFTER 06Z AND LIKE THE
TIMING OF THIS ETA FEATURE.  ETA ALONE IN BRINGING SIG VORT MAX INTO WRN
NE BY 12Z AND FEATURE IS PROBABLY OVERDONE BUT CLOSER THAN NGM/AVN.

ZONE GROUPING BEST SPLIT WEST TO EAST SIMILAR TO THIS MORNINGS SET TO
HANDLE TSTM MOVEMENT.  FWC AND FAN NUMBERS SIMILAR AND GENERALLY FOLLOWED.
LATE BECAUSE OF AFOS CRASH...AND MY PREVIOUS AFD WAS REALLY GREAT.

VTN    058/073 055/075 5432
ANW    058/0:75 055/076 3322
ONL    057/082 055/077 -122
BBW    055/076 056/077 3532
LBF    057/075 055/076 5532
IML    058/078 056/077 6532

BOWMAN

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 1, 4:49 PM MDT, 3 hours 43 minutes before
NEZ004-022-056-020500-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
548 PM CDT (448 PM MDT) SUN JUN 1 1997

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM MDT FOR THE EASTERN
NEBRASKA PANHANDLE...

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM MDT FOR SHERIDAN...GARDEN
AND DEUEL COUNTIES IN THE EASTERN NEBRASKA PANHANDLE. SOME
COMMUNTIES IN THE WATCH INCLUDE RUSHVILLE...GORDON...OSHKOSH AND
CHAPPELL.

A COLD FRONT MOVING SLOWLY SOUTHEAST INTO THE WESTERN NEBRASKA
PANHANDLE THIS EVENING WILL BE THE FOCUS FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
DEVELOPMENT...WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR TORNADIC THUNDERSTORMS.

THUNDERSTORMS MOVING OFF THE HIGHER TERRRAIN ARE INCREASING IN
INTENSITY AS THEY ENCOUNTER VERY UNSTABLE CONDITIONS...WITH
TEMPERATURES INTO THE MID TO UPPER 80S AND A INCREASING MOISTURE
SUPPLY. A LOW LEVEL JET IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE ALONG THE WESTERN
HIGH PLAINS DURING THE EVENING AND ENHANCE SHEAR PROFILES TO FAVOR
SUPERCELLS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNING.

THE KEY TO SURVIVAL IS ADVANCED PLANNING.  YOU SHOULD KNOW WHERE
THE SAFEST AREAS OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS ARE.

WOOD

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 2, 12:38 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFChase, Hayes62 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.