Alert archive / Nebraska / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 43, NWS Cheyenne, WY

May 20, 1998Morrill County, Nebraska

NWS Cheyenne, WY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 20, 1998, 5:28 PM MDT for Morrill County, Nebraska. It was in force for 32 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 20, 1998, 5:28 PM MDT (23:28 UTC)
Expired: May 20, 1998, 6:00 PM MDT
In force: 32 min
Issued by: NWS Cheyenne, WY
Area: Whole counties

County Morrill County, NE

The radar

The Cheyenne radar (KCYS), 162 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:29 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 20, 5:40 PM MDT	Hail 1.75	Bayard, NE	A storm produced golf ball size hail in Bayard.

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
May 20, 1:30 PM MDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 206 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: 2106 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 110 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 87 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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

Local storm report, May 20, 12:30 PM MDT, 4 hours 58 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  CHEYENNE WY
1230 PM MDT WED MAY 20 1998

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0402 PM    3 NE BURNS                WY   TORNADO
05/19/98   LARAMIE                        TOUCHED DOWN BRIEFLY THEN
                                          DISSIPATED

0432 PM    5 SSE PINE BLUFFS         NE   TORNADO
05/19/98   KIMBALL                        ON GROUND LESS THAN A
                                          MINUTE

END

Local storm report, May 20, 12:30 PM MDT, 4 hours 58 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  CHEYENNE WY
1230 PM MDT WED MAY 20 1998

TIME(MDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0402 PM    3 NE BURNS                WY   TORNADO
05/19/98   LARAMIE                        TOUCHED DOWN BRIEFLY THEN
                                          DISSIPATED

0432 PM    5 SSE PINE BLUFFS         NE   TORNADO
05/19/98   KIMBALL                        ON GROUND LESS THAN A
                                          MINUTE

END

Special weather statement, May 20, 1:50 PM MDT, 3 hours 38 minutes before

NEZ001>003-019>021-054-055-WYZ059-060-067-068-070-210100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
150 PM MDT WED MAY 20 1998

...A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR MUCH OF EASTERN WYOMING UNTIL 7
PM MDT...

THE STORM PREDICTIONS CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR MUCH OF
EASTERN WYOMING AND THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE UNTIL 7 PM MDT.

AT 145 PM MDT...DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM NEAR DOUGLAS TO JUST EAST OF WHEATLAND TO
NEAR CHEYENNE.  THE STRONGEST STORM WAS LOCATED 12 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
WHEATLAND.  ANOTHER STRONG STORM WAS LOCATED 20 MILES NORTH OF
CHEYENNE.  THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF STRONG GUSTY WINDS...SMALL
HAIL...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

A WATCH MEANS THAT WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE FORMATION
OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND NEAR THAT AREA. STEPS SHOULD BE TAKEN TO
FIND THE SAFEST AREA IN YOUR LOCATION.

PEOPLE IN EASTERN WYOMING AND THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE SHOULD BE ALERT FOR
THUNDERSTORMS.  IF A STORM APPROACHES YOUR AREA MOVE TO A SAFE SHELTER
UNTIL IT PASSES.

WCJIN-WYNE-WYSE
LRE

Special weather statement, May 20, 1:50 PM MDT, 3 hours 38 minutes before

NEZ001>003-019>021-054-055-WYZ059-060-067-068-070-210100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
150 PM MDT WED MAY 20 1998

...A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR MUCH OF EASTERN WYOMING UNTIL 7
PM MDT...

THE STORM PREDICTIONS CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR MUCH OF
EASTERN WYOMING AND THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE UNTIL 7 PM MDT.

AT 145 PM MDT...DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM NEAR DOUGLAS TO JUST EAST OF WHEATLAND TO
NEAR CHEYENNE.  THE STRONGEST STORM WAS LOCATED 12 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
WHEATLAND.  ANOTHER STRONG STORM WAS LOCATED 20 MILES NORTH OF
CHEYENNE.  THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF STRONG GUSTY WINDS...SMALL
HAIL...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

A WATCH MEANS THAT WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE FORMATION
OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND NEAR THAT AREA. STEPS SHOULD BE TAKEN TO
FIND THE SAFEST AREA IN YOUR LOCATION.

PEOPLE IN EASTERN WYOMING AND THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE SHOULD BE ALERT FOR
THUNDERSTORMS.  IF A STORM APPROACHES YOUR AREA MOVE TO A SAFE SHELTER
UNTIL IT PASSES.

WCJIN-WYNE-WYSE
LRE

Special weather statement, May 20, 2:59 PM MDT, 2 hours 29 minutes before

NEZ001>003-019>021-054-055-WYZ059-060-067-068-070-202155-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
259 PM MDT WED MAY 20 1998

...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF SOUTHEAST WYOMING
AND THE WESTERN NEBRASKA PANHANDLE...

AT 255 PM MDT DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED SCATTERED SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS OVER MAINLY SOUTHEAST WYOMING.  THE STRONGEST
THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 10 MILES WEST OF TORRINGTON WYOMING. THE
STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.  ANOTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORM
WAS LOCATED JUST SOUTH OF HARRRISON NEBRASKA.  THESE STORMS ARE
CAPABLE OF PRODUCING SMALL HAIL... STRONG GUSTY WINDS...AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THESE TFHUNDERSTORMS TAKE SHELTER IN A
STURDY BUILDING UNTIL THE STORM PASSES.

LRE
WCJIN-WYSE-WYNE

The office that day

Everything else NWS Cheyenne, WY issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 19, 6:09 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CYS	Dawes	46 min
May 19, 6:27 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CYS	Morrill	33 min
May 19, 6:38 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CYS	Dawes	32 min
May 19, 6:56 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CYS	Cheyenne	29 min
May 19, 7:26 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CYS	Cheyenne	44 min
May 19, 9:19 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CYS	Morrill	31 min
May 19, 9:39 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CYS	Cheyenne	31 min
May 20, 4:13 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CYS	Sioux	32 min
May 20, 4:46 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CYS	Scotts Bluff	34 min
May 20, 3:31 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	CYS	Niobrara	14 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Nebraska, 1998 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1998

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.