Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 1999
Tornado Warning 20, NWS North Platte, NE
NWS North Platte, NE issued this tornado warning at Jun 5, 1999, 5:01 PM MDT for Sheridan County, Nebraska. It was in force for 34 min. 5 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
- Jun 5, 1999, 5:01 PM MDT (23:01 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 5, 1999, 5:35 PM MDT
- In force
- 34 min
- Issued by
- NWS North Platte, NE
- Area
- Whole counties
County Sheridan County, NE
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 5, 5:05 PM MDT | Tornado F0 | Rushville, NE | The Sheridan county Emergency Manager observed several brief tornado touchdowns along the 2 mile path. No property damage was reported. |
| Jun 5, 5:11 PM MDT | Tornado F0 | Rushville, NE | Spotters observed a brief tornado touch down in open country. |
| Jun 5, 5:29 PM MDT | Tornado F0 | Rushville, NE | A spotter on the scene reported a brief tornado touchdown. |
| Jun 5, 5:30 PM MDT | Tornado F0 | Hay Spgs, NE | Spotters reported a brief tornado touch down. |
| Jun 5, 5:40 PM MDT | Tornado F1 | Gordon, NE | Spotters observed what they described as a large tornado touch down over open uninhabited country that did no damage to property. |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 5, 3:00 PM MDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Rapid City, SD (KUNR), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 178 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1172 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 24 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -42 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -53 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KLBF 052300 RRA TORLBF NEC161-052335- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 601 PM CDT (501 PM MDT) SAT JUN 5 1999 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTH PLATTE HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... NORTHERN SHERIDAN COUNTY IN THE NEBRASKA PANHANDLE * UNTIL 535 PM MDT (635 PM CDT) * AT 501 PM MDT... SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO 7 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF GORDON MOVING NORTH AT 25 MPH. THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO STAY IN OPEN COUNTRY WEST AND NORTH OF GORDON. A TORNADO IS ON THE GROUND! GO TO THE BASEMENT! IF A BASEMENT IS NOT AVAILABLE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR! JRS
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 North Platte, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Jun 5, 1:00 PM MDT, 4 hours 1 minute earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 5, 1:00 PM MDT, 4 hours 1 minute before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE 200 PM CDT SAT JUN 5 1999 QUITE VOLATILE CONDITIONS SETTING UP OVER PORTIONS OF NEBRASKA THIS AFTERNOON. DRYLINE CONTINUES TO BE LOCATED NEAR KLBF. SATELLITE IMAGERY SHOWS VARIOUS BOUNDARIES...ONE FROM SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA TO NORTHEAST COLORADO WHILE ANOTHER ONE EXTENDS FROM THE NORTH CENTRAL SOUTHWARD TO NEAR KMCK. A FAIRLY STRONG CAP STILL EXISTS OVER SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA. HOWEVER A STRONG SHORTWAVE WILL MOVE OUT OF CO THIS AFTERNOON AND INTERSECT SOME OF THE BOUNDARIES WHICH WILL PRODUCE ENOUGH LIFT TO FIRE OFF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. THE BEST INSTABILITY EXISTS EAST OF A LINE FROM KANW TO KBBW WHERE CAPES OF 3500 J/KG ARE EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON/EVENING. THE BEST UPPER DIVERGENCE WILL BE OVER THE NORTHERN AND WESTERN SECTIONS OF THE CWA EARLY AND THEN SHIFTS NORTHEASTWARD INTO SD LATER TONIGHT AS THE JET MOVES INTO SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA. WILL GO WITH LIKELY POPS TONIGHT IN THE NORTHEAST SECTIONS OF THE CWA AND THEN LOWER TO ISOLATED IN THE VERY WEST AND SOUTHWEST. THE COLD FRONT AND DRYLINE WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE EASTWARD TONIGHT. DEWPOINTS IN THE 40S WILL BE COMMON OVER THE WEST TONIGHT WHICH WILL ALLOW TEMPS TO FALL BACK INTO THE 50S...HOWEVER DEWPOINTS AROUND 60 AND STRONGER SOUTHERLY WINDS WILL KEEP TEMPS INTO THE LOWER 60S IN THE NORTHEAST. MOISTURE AND COLD AIR WRAPPING AROUND THE LOW PRESSURE WILL SWING INTO THE NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE CWA TOMORROW. GOOD INSTABILITY WILL HELP COLD AIR CU FORM AND POSSIBLY A THUNDERSTORM OR TWO...SO WILL GO WITH MINIMAL POPS TOMORROW IN THE NORTHWEST. THE REST OF THE AREA WILL JUST SEE SCT CU. COLDER TEMPERATURES ASSOCIATED WITH THE LOW PRESSURE WILL BE SOMEWHAT OFFSET BY THE WESTERLY/NORTHWESTERLY DOWNSLOPE FLOW. THEREFORE WILL GO CLOSE TO GUIDANCE NUMBERS. A WEAK RIDGE BUILDS OVER THE AREA SUNDAY NIGHT AND CONTINUES THROUGH MONDAY AS ANOTHER UPPER LOW DIGS INTO THE GREAT BASIN. THEREFORE THE WEATHER WILL BE FAIRLY QUITE AND WILL GO CLOSE TO GUIDANCE NUMBERS FOR TEMPS. THE UPPER LOW WILL EJECT OUT INTO THE NORTHERN PLAINS BRINGING A CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ON WED...AND THEN A SLIGHT CHANCE ON THURSDAY AS WEAK SHORTWAVES MOVE ACROSS THE PLAINS IN NEAR ZONAL FLOW. .LBF...NONE DDB
The office that day
Everything else NWS North Platte, NE issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 4, 6:11 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | McPherson | 49 min |
| Jun 4, 6:27 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Arthur, Grant | 48 min |
| Jun 4, 7:04 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Cherry | 61 min |
| Jun 4, 7:10 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Hooker | 50 min |
| Jun 4, 7:30 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Hooker | 35 min |
| Jun 4, 8:02 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Cherry | 63 min |
| Jun 4, 8:50 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Keya Paha | 35 min |
| Jun 4, 9:06 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Cherry | 64 min |
| Jun 4, 9:31 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Brown | 34 min |
| Jun 4, 9:50 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Keya Paha | 65 min |
| Jun 4, 11:41 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Cherry | 64 min |
| Jun 5, 4:21 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Lincoln | 44 min |
| Jun 5, 5:02 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Logan | 48 min |
| Jun 5, 5:17 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Thomas | 48 min |
| Jun 5, 5:36 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Sheridan | 49 min |
| Jun 5, 5:40 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Hooker | 35 min |
| Jun 5, 5:45 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Cherry | 60 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.