Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Omaha, NE

June 29, 1997Dodge County, Nebraska

NWS Omaha, NE issued this tornado warning at Jun 29, 1997, 3:21 PM CDT for Dodge County, Nebraska. It was in force for 49 min. 3 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 29, 1997, 3:21 PM CDT (20:21 UTC)
Expired
Jun 29, 1997, 4:10 PM CDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Omaha, NE
Area
Whole counties

County Dodge County, NE

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 37 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:24 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 29, 3:29 PM CDTHail 0.75Hooper, NEHail damaged crops on a farm.
Jun 29, 3:30 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 50Hooper, NE
Jun 29, 3:40 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Winslow, 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

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 37 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 1997-06-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1803 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 1997-06-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 36 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1803 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-66 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
732 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
36 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
42 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KOMA 292022 RRA
TOROMA
NEC053-292110-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
321 PM CDT SUN JUN 29 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  DODGE COUNTY - IN EAST CENTRAL NEBRASKA

* UNTIL 410 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  EAST OF AMES                 NOW
  FREMONT                      BY AROUND 335 PM CDT

* AT 318 PM CDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC 38
  MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF DOWNTOWN OMAHA OR IN THE VICINITY OF AMES
  MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH.
 
PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO SHOULD TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY TO
SAVE YOUR LIVES.  MOVE TO A STURDY BUILDING...A BASEMENT IF POSSIBLE
COVER YOUR HEAD FROM FLYING DEBRIS.

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.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 29, 11:35 AM CDT, 3 hours 46 minutes before
NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034-042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-
IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-301200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
1135 AM CDT SUN JUN 29 1997

...SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA...

SPOTTER ACTION...
STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT
ACROSS EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA.

DISCUSSION...
A WARM AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS CONTINUED TO COVER EASTERN NEBRASKA AND
SOUTHWEST IOWA.  SEVERAL WEAK BOUNDARIES FROM EARLIER SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS COMBINED WITH AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE COULD TRIGGER
REDEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS JUST ABOUT ANYWHERE ACROSS THE AREA
LATER THIS AFTERNOON.  IN ADDITION...LOW PRESSURE EXPECTED TO DEEPEN
OVER WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA TONIGHT WILL INCREASE LOW LEVEL SOUTH WINDS
ACROSS THE CENTRAL PLAINS.  THIS WOULD FEED MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR
INTO ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP WEST OF THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON
...POSSIBLY CAUSING THE THUNDERSTORMS TO BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD TONIGHT
AS THEY MOVED EAST.

THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THE THUNDERSTORMS IS HEAVY RAIN AND DAMAGING
WINDS.  HOWEVER...SOME OF THE STRONGER STORMS COULD PRODUCE LARGE HAIL
...ESPECIALLY FROM LATE AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE EVENING.

CHERMOK
Special weather statement, Jun 29, 11:41 AM CDT, 3 hours 40 minutes before
NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034-042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-
IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-301200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
1135 AM CDT SUN JUN 29 1997

...SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA...

SPOTTER ACTION...
STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT
ACROSS EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA.

DISCUSSION...
A WARM AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS CONTINUED TO COVER EASTERN NEBRASKA AND
SOUTHWEST IOWA.  SEVERAL WEAK BOUNDARIES FROM EARLIER SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS COMBINED WITH AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE COULD TRIGGER
REDEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS JUST ABOUT ANYWHERE ACROSS THE AREA
LATER THIS AFTERNOON.  IN ADDITION...LOW PRESSURE EXPECTED TO DEEPEN
OVER WESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA TONIGHT WILL INCREASE LOW LEVEL SOUTH WINDS
ACROSS THE CENTRAL PLAINS.  THIS WOULD FEED MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR
INTO ANY THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP WEST OF THE AREA THIS AFTERNOON
...POSSIBLY CAUSING THE THUNDERSTORMS TO BECOME MORE WIDESPREAD TONIGHT
AS THEY MOVED EAST.

THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THE THUNDERSTORMS IS HEAVY RAIN AND DAMAGING
WINDS.  HOWEVER...SOME OF THE STRONGER STORMS COULD PRODUCE LARGE HAIL
...ESPECIALLY FROM LATE AFTERNOON THROUGH LATE EVENING.

CHERMOK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 29, 1:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXMadison, Stanton62 min
Jun 29, 2:30 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningOAXMadison, Stanton3 hr
Jun 29, 3:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXDodge46 min
Jun 29, 3:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXWashington49 min

Nearby

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