Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 16, NWS North Platte, NE

May 21, 1998Frontier County, Nebraska

NWS North Platte, NE issued this tornado warning at May 21, 1998, 9:26 PM CDT for Frontier County, Nebraska. It was in force for 64 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
May 21, 1998, 9:26 PM CDT (02:26 UTC)
Expired
May 21, 1998, 10:30 PM CDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS North Platte, NE
Area
Whole counties

County Frontier County, NE

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 160 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:26 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
May 21, 9:45 PM CDTHail 1.75Stockville, NE
May 21, 10:20 PM CDTHail 2.5Stockville, NEHail as large as tennis balls caused significant damage to crops and property east of Stockville.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 21, 8:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 00:00Z, 2.4 hours before the alert went out and 69 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, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 1998-05-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 685 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 1998-05-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 34 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
685 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
548 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
34 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
73 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

712 
WFUS1 KLBF 220223 RRA
TORLBF
NEC063-220330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
926 PM CDT THU MAY 21 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTH PLATTE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WESTERN FRONTIER COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN NEBRASKA

* UNTIL 1030 PM CDT

* AT 924 PM CDT... NORTH PLATTE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO
  24 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF MCCOOK OR 10 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF
  RED WILLOW DAM MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN RURAL AREAS SOUTH OF HIGHWAY
  18.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS SITUATION ACT QUICKLY IT MAY SAVE YOUR LIFE
MOVE TO A BASEMENT IF POSSIBLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR
ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS AND DOORS.

MTM

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 21, 7:01 PM CDTTornado WarningLBFFrontier34 min
May 21, 7:13 PM CDTTornado WarningLBFPerkins32 min
May 21, 7:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFLincoln66 min
May 21, 7:38 PM CDTTornado WarningLBFFrontier32 min
May 21, 7:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFChase, Perkins66 min
May 21, 7:48 PM CDTTornado WarningLBFChase, Perkins62 min
May 21, 8:29 PM CDTTornado WarningLBFHayes66 min
May 21, 8:59 PM CDTTornado WarningLBFHayes66 min
May 21, 9:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFPerkins47 min
May 21, 9:59 PM CDTTornado WarningLBFFrontier66 min
May 21, 11:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFChase62 min
May 21, 11:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFChase44 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Nebraska, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes 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.