Alert archive / Iowa / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 64, NWS Omaha, NE

May 11, 1998Mills County, Pottawattamie County, Iowa

NWS Omaha, NE issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 11, 1998, 10:47 PM CDT for Mills County, Pottawattamie County, Iowa. It was in force for 48 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 11, 1998, 10:47 PM CDT (03:47 UTC)
Expired
May 11, 1998, 11:35 PM CDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Omaha, NE
Area
Whole counties

Counties Mills County, IA, Pottawattamie County, IA

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 67 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:47 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 11, 8:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 68 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 00:00Z on 1998-05-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 294 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 00:00Z on 1998-05-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 89 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
294 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-65 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1842 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
89 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
226 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.7

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

Special weather statement, May 11, 5:25 PM CDT, 5 hours 22 minutes before
NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034-042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-
IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-121200-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
525 PM CDT MON MAY 11 1998

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

SPOTTER ACTION...
STORM SPOTTER GROUPS IN EASTERN NEBRAKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA SHOULD
MAINTAIN A STATE OF READINESS THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT. THERE IS A
GOOD PROBABILITY SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE REQUIRED.

DISCUSSION...
THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER CENTRAL NEBRASKA WILL LIKELY BECOME
SEVERE WITH TORNADOES POSSIBLE AS THEY MOVE INTO EASTERN NEBRASKA
THIS EVENING.  INITIALLY THE SEVERE THREAT IN EASTERN NEBRASKA WILL
BE POINTS SOUTHWEST THROUGH NORTHWEST OF DAVID CITY.  HOWEVER...LATER
THIS EVENING THE SEVERE THREAT COULD SHIFT INTO THE REST OF EASTERN
NEBRASKA AND WESTERN IOWA.  TORNADOES AND LARGE HAIL WILL BE THE

INITIAL SEVERE THREAT...WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS BECOMING
THE MAIN THREAT LATER THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE FORMING ALONG A SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT EXTENDING
ACROSS CENTRAL NEBRASKA. IN ADDITION...A STRONG DISTURBANCE IN THE UPPER
ATMOSPHERE WILL BE MOVING ACROSS THE STATE TONIGHT.  GUSTY SOUTH WINDS
AHEAD OF THE FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO BRING WARM AND MOIST AIR INTO THE
REGION WHILE THE UPPER SYSTEM WILL PROVIDE STRENGTHENING WINDS ALOFT
FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.

CHERMOK
Special weather statement, May 11, 5:25 PM CDT, 5 hours 22 minutes before
NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034-042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093-
IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-121200-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE
525 PM CDT MON MAY 11 1998

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

SPOTTER ACTION...
STORM SPOTTER GROUPS IN EASTERN NEBRAKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA SHOULD
MAINTAIN A STATE OF READINESS THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT. THERE IS A
GOOD PROBABILITY SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE REQUIRED.

DISCUSSION...
THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER CENTRAL NEBRASKA WILL LIKELY BECOME
SEVERE WITH TORNADOES POSSIBLE AS THEY MOVE INTO EASTERN NEBRASKA
THIS EVENING.  INITIALLY THE SEVERE THREAT IN EASTERN NEBRASKA WILL
BE POINTS SOUTHWEST THROUGH NORTHWEST OF DAVID CITY.  HOWEVER...LATER
THIS EVENING THE SEVERE THREAT COULD SHIFT INTO THE REST OF EASTERN
NEBRASKA AND WESTERN IOWA.  TORNADOES AND LARGE HAIL WILL BE THE

INITIAL SEVERE THREAT...WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS BECOMING
THE MAIN THREAT LATER THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE FORMING ALONG A SLOW MOVING COLD FRONT EXTENDING
ACROSS CENTRAL NEBRASKA. IN ADDITION...A STRONG DISTURBANCE IN THE UPPER
ATMOSPHERE WILL BE MOVING ACROSS THE STATE TONIGHT.  GUSTY SOUTH WINDS
AHEAD OF THE FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO BRING WARM AND MOIST AIR INTO THE
REGION WHILE THE UPPER SYSTEM WILL PROVIDE STRENGTHENING WINDS ALOFT
FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.

CHERMOK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 11, 7:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXKnox44 min
May 11, 8:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXAntelope, Pierce48 min
May 11, 8:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXBoone48 min
May 11, 8:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXStanton64 min
May 11, 9:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXJefferson, Saline60 min
May 11, 9:09 PM CDTTornado WarningOAXJefferson61 min
May 11, 9:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXBurt, Cuming33 min
May 11, 9:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXLancaster47 min
May 11, 10:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXJefferson48 min
May 11, 10:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXGage48 min
May 11, 10:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXJefferson34 min
May 11, 10:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXMonona35 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Iowa, 1998Every 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.