Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Cheyenne, WY

May 21, 1999Cheyenne County, Nebraska

NWS Cheyenne, WY issued this tornado warning at May 21, 1999, 7:11 PM MDT for Cheyenne County, Nebraska. It was in force for 19 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 21, 1999, 7:11 PM MDT (01:11 UTC)
Expired
May 21, 1999, 7:30 PM MDT
In force
19 min
Issued by
NWS Cheyenne, WY
Area
Whole counties

County Cheyenne County, NE

The radar

The Cheyenne radar (KCYS), 152 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:11 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, 7:20 PM MDTHail 1Sunol, NE1 inch hail fell 6 miles south of Sunol, NE

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 nearest sounding before it

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 00:00Z, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 151 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, Denver, CO at 00:00Z on 1999-05-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 810 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Denver, CO at 00:00Z on 1999-05-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -21 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
810 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2631 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-21 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
14 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCYS 220111 RRA
TORCYS
NEC033-220130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
711 PM MDT FRI MAY 21 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHEYENNE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHEASTERN CHEYENNE COUNTY IN THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE

* UNTIL 730 PM MDT

* AT 709 PM MDT... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  POSSIBLE TORNADO 8 MILES SOUTHEAST OF SIDNEY...MOVING EAST AT 15
  MPH.

THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN OPEN COUNTRY.

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR!

THIS WARNING REPLACES THE PREVIOUSLY ISSUED TORNADO WARNING FOR
EASTERN CHEYENNE COUNTY.

WEILAND

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 21, 6:53 PM MDT, 18 minutes before
WYZ059-060-067-068-220200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
653 PM MDT FRI MAY 21 1999

...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR EAST CENTRAL
AND PARTS OF SOUTHEAST WYOMING...

THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DECREASED CONSIDERABLY IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY
OVER EAST CENTRAL AND PARTS OF SOUTHEAST WYOMING SINCE 530 PM.  THE
THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER FROM THE REMAINING THUNDERSTORMS IS LOW...
SO THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED.

WCJIN-WYSE-
WEILAND

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 21, 6:08 PM MDTTornado WarningCYSCheyenne32 min
May 21, 6:10 PM MDTTornado WarningCYSBox Butte35 min
May 21, 6:38 PM MDTTornado WarningCYSCheyenne32 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Nebraska, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes in 1999

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.