Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 18, NWS Omaha, NE
NWS Omaha, NE issued this tornado warning at Jul 7, 1997, 7:55 PM CDT for Colfax County, Nebraska. It was in force for 50 min. 2 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
- Jul 7, 1997, 7:55 PM CDT (00:55 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 7, 1997, 8:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 50 min
- Issued by
- NWS Omaha, NE
- Area
- Whole counties
County Colfax County, NE
The radar
The Omaha radar (KOAX), 66 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:54 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 7, 8:00 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Clarkson, NE | Hail damaged or destroyed 2500 acres of corn, soybeans, and alfalfa. |
| Jul 7, 8:09 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Clarkson, 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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 7, 5:45 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 66 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
- 1901 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -10 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1492 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 36 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 154 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 328 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.0
- Supercell composite
- 13.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KOMA 080055 RRA TOROMA NEC037-080145- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 755 PM CDT MON JUL 7 1997 * TORNADO WARNING FOR COLFAX COUNTY - IN NORTHEASTERN NEBRASKA * UNTIL 845 PM CDT * SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED HOWELLS BY AROUND 754 PM CDT 10 MILES NORTH OF SCHUYLER BY AROUND 755 PM CDT * AT 754 PM CDT...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY DOPPLER RADAR 22 MILES NORTHEAST OF COLUMBUS OR IN THE VICINITY OF HOWELLS MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH. THIS REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR COLFAX COUNTY. TAKE COVER IN A REINFORCED BUILDING ON THE LOWEST FLOOR IMMEDIATELY. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. DAMAGE REPORTS OR OBSERVED SEVERE WEATHER SHOULD 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 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, Jul 7, 7:55 PM CDT, 0 minutes before
NEZ011-012-016>018-080300- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT CLEARING PART OF TORNADO WATCH 580 NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA NE 755 PM CDT MON JUL 7 1997 ...TORNADO WATCH CANCELLED FOR COUNTIES IN NORTHEAST NEBRASKA TO THE NORTH OF NORFOLK... TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 580...ISSUED ABOUT 315 PM THIS MONDAY EVENING IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT FOR KNOX...CEDAR...ANTELOPE...PIERCE AND WAYNE COUNTIES OF NORTHEAST NEBRASKA. THE SQUALL LINE AND COLD FRONT GENERATING SEVERE WEATHER HAS PASSED TO THE SOUTHEAST OF THESE COUNTIES. TORNADO WATCH 680 REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE COUNTIES OF NORTHEAST NEBRASKA TO THE SOUTHEAST OF A NORFOLK TO SIOUX CITY LINE UNTIL 10 PM CDT. IN ADDITION TORNADO WATCH 581 REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF SOUTH CENTRAL...SOUTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND ADJACENT SOUTHWEST IOWA UNTIL MIDNIGHT. POWERS
The office that day
Everything else NWS Omaha, NE issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 7, 7:01 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Madison | 29 min |
| Jul 7, 7:15 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Stanton | 45 min |
| Jul 7, 7:23 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Cuming | 47 min |
| Jul 7, 7:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Platte | 65 min |
| Jul 7, 7:38 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Colfax | 62 min |
| Jul 7, 8:21 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Dodge | 64 min |
| Jul 7, 8:59 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | OAX | Colfax, Dodge | 6 hr |
| Jul 7, 9:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Butler | 62 min |
| Jul 7, 9:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Saunders | 62 min |
| Jul 7, 10:07 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Douglas, Sarpy | 48 min |
| Jul 7, 10:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Cass, Sarpy | 50 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.