Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 27, NWS Hastings, NE

May 15, 1999Polk County, Nebraska

NWS Hastings, NE issued this tornado warning at May 15, 1999, 10:43 PM CDT for Polk County, Nebraska. It was in force for 47 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 15, 1999, 10:43 PM CDT (03:43 UTC)
Expired: May 15, 1999, 11:30 PM CDT
In force: 47 min
Issued by: NWS Hastings, NE
Area: Whole counties

County Polk County, NE

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 15, 10:58 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Osceola, 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 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, 9:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 3.7 hours before the alert went out and 101 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: 107 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -296 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 866 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 89 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 196 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

999 
WFUS1 KGRI 160344 RRA
TORGRI
NEC143-160430-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
1043 PM CDT SAT MAY 15 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HASTINGS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR PEOPLE IN...
  POLK COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL NEBRASKA

* UNTIL 1130 PM CDT

* AT 1043 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  DEVELOPING TORNADO 10 MILES NORTH OF YORK...OR 7 MILES SOUTH OF
  STROMSBURG...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  SHELBY AT 1100 PM 

TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY IN A BASEMENT OR GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM
ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. GET UNDER A STURDY PIECE OF FURNITURE AND COVER
YOUR HEAD WITH A BLANKET OR PILLOW. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

EWALD/HERALD

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.

NWS Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at May 15, 2:30 PM CDT, 8 hours 13 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 15, 2:30 PM CDT, 8 hours 13 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
230 PM CDT SAT MAY 15 1999

POPS RMN THE QN OF THE FP AS WITH SHRTWVS EJECTING ONTO THE PLNS
FM PAC NW TROF.  MID LVL TROF PROGD TO MOV EWD DURING PDS 3 AND 4
WITH A CPL PCPN FREE DAYS TWD MIDWEEK.  FOR NOW...LLVL MSTR ALREADY
IN PLACE FOR ACTION WITH 850 DPS IN THE TEENS OVR SRN HALF OF KS.  ST
DECK OVR CWA TDA KPG AREA STABLE ONCE AGAIN. WARM FRONT AT MID AFTN
JUST N OF NEB/KS STATE LINE WITH LAPS IND MSTR CNVGNC AND NEG LI OVR
KS CNTIES OF CWA...BNDRY EVIDENT IN THIS AREA ON VISIBLE SATELLITE...
MAYBE OUTFLOW FM LAST NGTS MCS MOVG NWD BEHIND WARM FNT.

LKG FOR TSRA AGAIN TO FORM OVR NWRN NEB WITH AREA OF MSTR CNVGNC AND
INCRSG 200 MB DVRGNC AS PER ETA/NGM.  EXPECTING ANOTHER MCS TYPE
EVENT WITH 30 TO 35 KT LLVL JET REDEVELOPING AND UPR SPPRT FM ANOTHER
VORT LOBE WHICH 18Z RUC POINTS AT CNTRL NEB.  THICKNESS AND
PROPAGATION VECTORS IND TSTMS WL TRACK ESEWD AGAIN LIKE LAST NGT.
AM ALSO WATCHING KS CNTIES CLOSLY AS THAT AREA HAS DESTABILIZED IN
LTD SUNSHINE TO LAPS IND -6 LI/CAPE NR 3000 WITH THE LTD SUNSHINE.
MAY SEE INITIATION THERE ALSO IF CAP CAN BE ERODED A BIT FURTHER. WL
WORD LIKELY TSTMS LTR TNGT FOR MOST OF CWA...BEST CHC NRN COUNTIES
WHERE WARM FNT WL WIND UP...BUT WL NOT DIFFERENTIATE FOR KS AND SERN
COUNTIES WITH ABOVE MENTIONED VARIABLES.

SUN...CDFNT MOVS SLOWLY THRU CWA...ORIENTED NE TO SW BY AFTN. ETA AND
NGM ARE VERY AGGRESSIVE WITH THE OMEGA FIELD IN ADVN OF THE MID LVL
TROF...WL KP GOOD CHC TSRA OVR SERN HALF OF CWA...TAPERING THE CHCS
OFF TO THE NW.

700 TMP ADVCTN/850 MSTR CNVGNC SOLUTIONS FM ETA/NGM SUGGEST BEST
CHC FOR TSRA ON SUN NGT ALNG KS/NEB STATE LINE AND WL HIT THAT
AREA HARDER WITH THE POPS WITH PROGD PRESENCE OF FNT AND MID LVL
TROF.  WL WORD TO END POPS ON MON AFTN FOR NOW AS CWA COMES UNDR
SBCDNC SIDE OF TROF.

.GID...NONE.

09

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 15, 7:48 PM CDT, 2 hours 55 minutes before

KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-
160155-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
748 PM CDT SAT MAY 15 1999

...THIS IS A TEST OF THE HASTINGS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEMS. THIS IS ONLY A TEST....

MORITZ

Special weather statement, May 15, 8:03 PM CDT, 2 hours 40 minutes before

KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-160200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
803 PM CDT SAT MAY 15 1999

...THIS IS TEST OF THE HASTINGS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM. THIS IS ONLY A TEST...

MORITZ

Special weather statement, May 15, 8:03 PM CDT, 2 hours 40 minutes before

KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-160200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
803 PM CDT SAT MAY 15 1999

...THIS IS TEST OF THE HASTINGS NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM. THIS IS ONLY A TEST...

MORITZ

Local storm report, May 15, 8:40 PM CDT, 2 hours 3 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  HASTINGS NE
840 PM CDT SAT MAY 15 1999

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

0702 PM(    5SW STOCKTON              KS   TORNADO
05/15/99   ROOKS                          BRIEF TOUCHDOWN REPORTED
                                          BY PUBLIC AND TRAINED
                                          STORM SPOTTERS

MORITZ

Local storm report, May 15, 8:40 PM CDT, 2 hours 3 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE  HASTINGS NE
840 PM CDT SAT MAY 15 1999

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

0702 PM(    5SW STOCKTON              KS   TORNADO
05/15/99   ROOKS                          BRIEF TOUCHDOWN REPORTED
                                          BY PUBLIC AND TRAINED
                                          STORM SPOTTERS

MORITZ

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 15, 9:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Webster	35 min
May 15, 9:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Clay, Nuckolls	51 min
May 15, 9:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Fillmore, Nuckolls, Thayer	59 min
May 15, 9:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Webster	46 min
May 15, 10:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	York	53 min
May 16, 4:47 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Sherman, Valley	43 min
May 16, 5:36 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Greeley	39 min

Nearby

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