Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 35, NWS North Platte, NE

August 28, 1997Deuel County, Garden County, Keith County, Nebraska

NWS North Platte, NE issued this tornado warning at Aug 28, 1997, 3:55 PM MDT for Deuel County, Garden County, Keith County, Nebraska. It was in force for 50 min. 4 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: Aug 28, 1997, 3:55 PM MDT (21:55 UTC)
Expired: Aug 28, 1997, 4:45 PM MDT
In force: 50 min
Issued by: NWS North Platte, NE
Area: Whole counties

Counties Deuel County, NE, Garden County, NE, Keith County, NE

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 146 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:56 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
Aug 28, 4:00 PM MDT	Hail 0.75	Big Spgs, NE
Aug 28, 4:05 PM MDT	Hail 0.75	Lewellen, NE
Aug 28, 4:15 PM MDT	Hail 0.88	Brule, NE
Aug 28, 4:25 PM MDT	Tornado F0	Ogallala, NE	Spotters reported a brief touchdown of a weak tornado.

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, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 128 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: 1148 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -231 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1252 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -69 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 90 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 2.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLBF 282155 RRA
TORLBF
NEC049-069-101-282245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
455 PM CDT (355 PM MDT) THU AUG 28 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTH PLATTE NE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 445 PM MDT (545 PM CDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE

   ...NORTHEASTERN DEUEL COUNTY
   ...EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN GARDEN COUNTY

IN SOUTHWESTERN NEBRASKA

   ...EXTREME WESTERN KEITH COUNTY
 
AT 353 PM MDT...A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY THE PUBLIC
19 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF OGALLALA OR 9 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF
LEWELLEN MOVING NORTH AT 10 MPH.

THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN RURAL AREAS.
 
IFX YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.
THE SAFEST PLACE IN A HOME OR BUSINESS IS AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS.

COGIL

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 28, 4:44 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Keith	66 min
Aug 28, 4:58 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	LBF	Keith	47 min
Aug 28, 5:09 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	LBF	Perkins	66 min
Aug 28, 5:44 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	LBF	Perkins	61 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.