Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 8, NWS Omaha, NE
NWS Omaha, NE issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 2, 1997, 4:24 PM CDT for Fremont County, Iowa. It was in force for 31 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
- May 2, 1997, 4:24 PM CDT (21:24 UTC)
- Expired
- May 2, 1997, 4:55 PM CDT
- In force
- 31 min
- Issued by
- NWS Omaha, NE
- Area
- Whole counties
County Fremont County, IA
The radar
The Omaha radar (KOAX), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:24 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 4:25 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Sidney, IA |
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
Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 9.4 hours before the alert went out and 91 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 500 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 46 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 181 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 196 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KOMA 022124 RRA SVROMA IAC071-022155- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 424 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 1997 * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR FREMONT COUNTY - IN SOUTHWESTERN IOWA * UNTIL 455 PM CDT * SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED SIDNEY BY AROUND 420 PM CDT ANDERSON BY AROUND 425 PM CDT RIVERTON BY AROUND 430 PM CDT RANDOLPH BY AROUND 430 PM CDT FARRAGUT BY AROUND 445 PM CDT IMOGENE BY AROUND 450 PM CDT * AT 423 PM CDT...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY DOPPLER RADAR 35 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF DOWNTOWN OMAHA OR 3 MILES NORTHWEST OF SIDNEY MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. HAIL AROUND ONE INCH IN DIAMETER IS POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. TAKE SHELTER IN A REINFORCED BUILDING ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. DRIVERS SHOULD WATCH OUT FOR WATER OVER ROADS...IN UNDE@RPASSES AND NEAR STREAMS. REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER OR DAMAGE CAN BE GIVEN TO A LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY FOR RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. MILLER
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.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 2, 10:58 AM CDT, 5 hours 26 minutes before
NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034-042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093- IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-030900- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 1100 AM CDT FRI MAY 02 1997 ...SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA... SPOTTER ACTION... STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED FOR THIS AFTERNOON OR TONIGHT IN EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA. DISCUSSION... COLD AIR ALOFT AND RESIDUAL MOISTURE AT THE SURFACE WILL ALLOW SCATTERED SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS TO REDEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING. ANY STORMS THAT DO DEVELOP HOWEVER ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LIMITS. FOBERT
Special weather statement, May 2, 11:00 AM CDT, 5 hours 24 minutes before
NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034-042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093- IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-030900- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 1100 AM CDT FRI MAY 02 1997 ...SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA... SPOTTER ACTION... STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED FOR THIS AFTERNOON OR TONIGHT IN EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA. DISCUSSION... COLD AIR ALOFT AND RESIDUAL MOISTURE AT THE SURFACE WILL ALLOW SCATTERED SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS TO REDEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING. ANY STORMS THAT DO DEVELOP HOWEVER ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LIMITS. FOBERT
Special weather statement, May 2, 3:19 PM CDT, 1 hour 5 minutes before
IAZ079-080-090-091-NEZ065>068-078-022120- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 318 PM CDT FRI MAY 2 1997 AT 310 PM RADAR INDICATED THAT A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS...SOME STRONG HAD DEVELOPED FROM SOUTHEAST OF SEWARD TO NEBRASKA CITY TO SIDNEY IOWA. THESE STORMS PRODUCED DIME TO MARBLE SIZED HAIL IN NEBRASKA CITY AT 305 PM. THE EASTERN PORTION OF THE LINE WAS MOVING NORTHEAST WITH THE WESTERN PORTION MOVING SOUTHEAST. THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ACROSS SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA INTO SOUTHWEST IOWA THROUGH THE EVENING...WITH SOME PRODUCING SMALL HAIL AND HEAVY RAINS. LJH
The office that day
Everything else NWS Omaha, NE issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 4:59 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Fremont, Page | 61 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 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.