Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 12, NWS Omaha, NE
NWS Omaha, NE issued this tornado warning at May 15, 1998, 8:28 AM CDT for Gage County, Nebraska. It was in force for 47 min. 8 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 15, 1998, 8:28 AM CDT (13:28 UTC)
- Expired
- May 15, 1998, 9:15 AM CDT
- In force
- 47 min
- Issued by
- NWS Omaha, NE
- Area
- Whole counties
County Gage County, NE
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 8:35 AM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Rockford, NE | Several silos knocked over. |
| May 15, 8:35 AM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 67 | Virginia, NE | Semi truck blown over. |
| May 15, 8:40 AM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 60 | Wymore, NE | Trees blown down. |
| May 15, 8:40 AM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 60 | Filley, NE | Tree blown down. |
| May 15, 8:40 AM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 68 | Filley, NE | Semi truck blown over. Silo blown down. Tree damage. Hog building destroyed. Machine shed destroyed. |
| May 15, 8:45 AM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 61 | Filley, NE | Large tree limbs downed. |
| May 15, 8:49 AM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 59 | (Bie)Beatrice Arpt, NE | |
| May 15, 8:57 AM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 62 | Adams, NE | Garage destroyed. Machine shed destroyed. |
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 15, 7:45 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 4 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 1.5 hours before the alert went out and 121 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
- 1194 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -370 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1627 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 64 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -76 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 26 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
052 WFUS1 KOMA 151329 RRA TOROMA NEC067-151415- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 828 AM CDT FRI MAY 15 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OMAHA HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... GAGE COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA * UNTIL 915 AM CDT * AT 827 AM CDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 52 MILES SOUTH OF LINCOLN OR 14 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF VIRGINIA MOVING NORTH NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH. * THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR... VIRGINIA AT 840 AM CDT FILLEY AT 840 AM CDT PERSONS IN THE WARNED AREA SHOULD TAKE SHELTER IN A BASEMENT IF AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. CARS AND MOBILE HOMES SHOULD BE ABANDONED. BYRD
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, May 15, 5:00 AM CDT, 3 hours 28 minutes before
NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034-042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093- IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-161200- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 500 AM CDT FRI MAY 15 1998 ...SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA... SPOTTER ACTION... STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED OVER EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA TODAY. DISCUSSION... A COLD FRONT EXTENDING ACROSS CENTRAL NEBRASKA WILL MOVE EASTWARD AS A STRONG UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE OVER THE TEXAS PANHANDLE LIFTS NORTHEAST INTO SOUTHWEST IOWA BY EVENING. THESE FEATURES COMBINED WITH A MOIST AND VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS OVER THE REGION WILL BRING PERIODS OF THUNDERSTORMS TO THE REGION TODAY. THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THESE STORMS WOULD BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. LJH
Special weather statement, May 15, 5:00 AM CDT, 3 hours 28 minutes before
NEZ011-012-015>018-030>034-042>045-050>053-065>068-078-088>093- IAZ043-055-056-069-079-080-090-091-161200- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA/VALLEY NE 500 AM CDT FRI MAY 15 1998 ...SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA... SPOTTER ACTION... STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED OVER EASTERN NEBRASKA AND SOUTHWEST IOWA TODAY. DISCUSSION... A COLD FRONT EXTENDING ACROSS CENTRAL NEBRASKA WILL MOVE EASTWARD AS A STRONG UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE OVER THE TEXAS PANHANDLE LIFTS NORTHEAST INTO SOUTHWEST IOWA BY EVENING. THESE FEATURES COMBINED WITH A MOIST AND VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS OVER THE REGION WILL BRING PERIODS OF THUNDERSTORMS TO THE REGION TODAY. THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THESE STORMS WOULD BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. LJH
The office that day
Everything else NWS Omaha, NE issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 7:37 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Gage, Jefferson, Pawnee | 48 min |
| May 15, 8:24 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Johnson, Nemaha | 61 min |
| May 15, 8:24 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Gage, Jefferson | 61 min |
| May 15, 8:39 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Lancaster, Otoe | 61 min |
| May 15, 8:50 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Lancaster, Otoe | 65 min |
| May 15, 8:58 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Cass | 62 min |
| May 15, 9:10 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Douglas, Sarpy, Saunders | 65 min |
| May 15, 9:34 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Washington | 61 min |
| May 15, 9:34 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Dodge | 61 min |
| May 15, 9:47 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Burt | 63 min |
| May 15, 9:47 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Cuming | 63 min |
| May 15, 10:13 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Douglas | 32 min |
| May 15, 10:17 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Thurston | 63 min |
| May 15, 12:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Butler, Colfax, Platte | 65 min |
| May 15, 1:22 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Platte | 48 min |
| May 15, 1:33 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Madison, Stanton | 62 min |
| May 15, 1:49 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Madison, Stanton | 46 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.