Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Omaha, NE

May 7, 1997Johnson County, Otoe County, Nebraska

NWS Omaha, NE issued this tornado warning at May 7, 1997, 4:40 PM CDT for Johnson County, Otoe County, Nebraska. It was in force for 65 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 7, 1997, 4:40 PM CDT (21:40 UTC)
Expired: May 7, 1997, 5:45 PM CDT
In force: 65 min
Issued by: NWS Omaha, NE
Area: Whole counties

Counties Johnson County, NE, Otoe County, NE

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:41 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 7, 2:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 9.7 hours before the alert went out and 90 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 963 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 155 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 202 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 5.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KOMA 072141 RRA
TOROMA
NEC097-131-072245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
440 PM CDT WED MAY 7 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  WESTERN OTOE COUNTY - IN SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA
  JOHNSON COUNTY - IN SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA

* UNTIL 545 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  STERLING                     BY AROUND 500 PM CDT
  DOUGLAS                      BY AROUND 500 PM CDT

* AT 438 PM CDT...A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY DOPPLER RADAR AND
  SPOTTER REPORTS 20 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF LINCOLN OR 9 MILES WEST
  SOUTHWEST OF DOUGLAS MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.
 
PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO SHOULD TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY TO
SAVE YOUR LIVES.  MOVE TO A STURDY B$UILDING...A BASEMENT IF POSSIBLE
COVER YOUR HEAD FROM FLYING DEBRIS.

SKERRITT

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 7, 4:49 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Wayne	46 min
May 7, 3:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Douglas	64 min
May 7, 3:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Sarpy	47 min
May 7, 4:04 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Gage, Pawnee	61 min
May 7, 4:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Nemaha	49 min
May 7, 4:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Lancaster	66 min
May 7, 4:13 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Lancaster	47 min
May 7, 4:21 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Gage	39 min
May 7, 4:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Richardson	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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.