Alert archive / Nebraska / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 192, NWS North Platte, NE

August 21, 1997Cherry County, Nebraska

NWS North Platte, NE issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 21, 1997, 6:17 AM MDT for Cherry County, Nebraska. It was in force for 48 min. 1 report 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
Aug 21, 1997, 6:17 AM MDT (12:17 UTC)
Expired
Aug 21, 1997, 7:05 AM MDT
In force
48 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 12:08 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
Aug 21, 6:30 AM MDTHail 1.25Wood Lake, 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 nearest sounding before it

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 12:00Z, 0.3 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 12:00Z on 1997-08-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 969 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 12:00Z on 1997-08-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 251 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
969 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-157 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1037 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
251 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
348 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLBF 211218 RRA
SVRLBF
NEC031-211305-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
717 AM CDT (617 AM MDT) THU AUG 21 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTH PLATTE NE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 805 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA

   ...EXTREME NORTHEASTERN CHERRY COUNTY
 
AT 715 AM CDT...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY NORTH PLATTE
DOPPLER RADAR 12 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF VALENTINE OR 5 MILES NORTH
NORTHEAST OF ARABIA MOVING SOUTH SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

DAMAGING HAIL AND/OR DESTRUCTIVE WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED NEAR...
  WOOD LAKE                    BY 735 AM CDT
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM YOU SHOULD MOVE INTO A STRONG
BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND NEAR WINDOWS. DO NOT USE TELEPHONES OR
ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM HAS
PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER C(ROSSINGS.

ROBERG

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 Aug 21, 2:57 AM MDT, 3 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 21, 2:57 AM MDT, 3 hours 20 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
356 AM CDT (256 AM MDT) THU AUG 21 1997

UPDATED...

TSRA DVLPG QUICKLY IN AREA OF STRONG ISENTROPIC LIFT AS SEEN ON 3Z
RUC. THIS IN 309-312K LAYER. 700-500 THTA-E ANLYSIS ALSO SHOWS THE
POTENTIAL INSTABILITY WITH ELEVATED CONVECTION. WITH ISENTROPIC
CONTINUING INTO THE MORNING...SCT TSRA NEEDED IN UPCOMING ZONES...

THIS SITUATION MAY BE SIMILAR TO SPC DISC FOR SC KS...AND WILL
HAVE TO WATCH FOR TRAINING....

STOPPKOTTE

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 21, 6:00 AM MDT, 17 minutes before
NEZ004>010-022>029-035>038-056>059-069>071-221200-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR WESTERN AND NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
700 AM CDT (600 AM MDT) TUE AUG 19 1997

THIS OUTLOOK PERTAINS TO THE FOLLOWING NEBRASKA COUNTIES...

ARTHUR     BLAINE     BOYD       BROWN      CHASE      CHERRY
CUSTER     DEUEL      FRONTIER   GARDEN     GARFIELD   GRANT
HAYES      HOLT       HOOKER     KEITH      KEYA PAHA  LINCOLN
LOGAN      LOUP       MCPHERSON  PERKINS    ROCK       SHERIDAN
THOMAS     WHEELER

...STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED IN PARTS OF NORTHERN AND
WESTERN NEBRASKA BY LATE AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT...

THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON
INTO TONIGHT...WEST OF A LINE FROM VALENTINE TO BROKEN BOW. WIDELY
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE AREA
BY THIS EVENING AS WELL...BUT ARE NOT EXPECTED TO REACH SEVERE LIMITS.

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE ACROSS PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL
NEBRASKA...MAINLY EAST OF A LINE FROM VALENTINE TO BROKEN BOW...THIS
MORNING WITH ISOLATED STORMS HAVING THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE LARGE
HAIL. WITH STABLE AIR NEAR THE SURFACE...WIDESPREAD DAMAGING WINDS ARE
NOT EXPECTED.

BY AFTERNOON...AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL ENTER THE NORTHWESTERN
PORTION OF THE OUTLOOK AREA. IN THE MEANTIME...AN INCREASE IN LOW LEVEL
MOISTURE WILL CONTINUE INTO THE WESTERN HIGH PLAINS. WITH SUFFICIENT
AFTERNOON HEATING...THE ATMOSPHERE WEST OF A LINE FROM VALENTINE TO
NORTH PLATTE WILL BECOME QUITE UNSTABLE. AS THE UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE
ENHANCES AN AREA OF LOW PRESSURE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP BY LATE AFTERNOON
IN THE NORTHWESTERN PART OF THE AREA...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE
EXPECTED TO DEVELOP...MAINLY AFTER 200 PM MDT. AFTER INITIATION...THE
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE SOUTHEAST ACROSS THE AREA WEST OF A
LINE FROM VALENTINE TO BROKEN BOW. WIND PROFILES THROUGH THE ATMOSPHERE
WILL BE CONDUCIVE FOR PRODUCTION OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...WITH THE
MAIN THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER COMING FROM LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
WINDS...ALTHOUGH ISOLATED TORNADOES MAY BE POSSIBLE AS WELL.

WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE BY FRIDAY AFTERNOON
ACROSS THE OUTLOOK AREA ALSO...A FEW OF WHICH WILL AGAIN HAVE TO THE
POTENTIAL TO BECOME SEVERE.

STOPPKOTTE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 20, 6:37 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFChase63 min
Aug 21, 4:24 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFBrown46 min
Aug 21, 5:24 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFBlaine46 min
Aug 21, 6:00 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFCuster65 min
Aug 21, 1:19 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFGarfield31 min
Aug 21, 5:16 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFDeuel, Keith49 min
Aug 21, 5:30 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFKeith50 min
Aug 21, 5:56 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFPerkins49 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.