Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Omaha, NE

May 17, 2000Madison County, Platte County, Stanton County, Nebraska

NWS Omaha, NE issued this tornado warning at May 17, 2000, 5:15 PM CDT for Madison County, Platte County, Stanton County, Nebraska. It was in force for 30 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 17, 2000, 5:15 PM CDT (22:15 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 2000, 5:45 PM CDT
In force: 30 min
Issued by: NWS Omaha, NE
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Madison County, NE, Platte County, NE, Stanton County, NE

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:19 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 17, 5:30 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Creston, NE	Brief touchdown of a tornado was observed by law enforcement official near Creston. The official noted that the tornado then lifted with a funnel observed after that for around 10 to 20 minutes longer.

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 17, 4:15 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 94 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: 1753 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -269 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 902 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 62 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 123 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

544 
WFUS53 KOAX 172216
TOROMA
NEC119-141-167-172245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA NE
515 PM CDT WED MAY 17 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OMAHA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHEASTERN MADISON COUNTY IN NORTHEAST NEBRASKA
  NORTHEAST PLATTE COUNTY IN NORTHEAST NEBRASKA
  SOUTHERN STANTON COUNTY IN NORTHEAST NEBRASKA

* UNTIL 545 PM CDT

* AT 514 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 3 MILES NORTHEAST OF HUMPHREY...OR ABOUT 19 MILES NORTH OF
  COLUMBUS...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  CRESTON AT 520 PM CDT

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...GO TO A BASEMENT. IF A BASEMENT
IS NOT AVAILABLE...TAKE COVER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST LEVEL
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS. AVOID WINDOWS.

LAT...LON 4175 9762 4159 9750 4169 9728 4174 9729
          4179 9704 4198 9706

BYRD

NNNN

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 17, 3:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Boone, Platte	64 min
May 17, 4:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Antelope, Madison, Pierce	34 min
May 17, 4:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Platte	29 min
May 17, 5:45 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Colfax, Platte, Stanton	30 min
May 17, 6:15 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OAX	Cuming, Stanton, Wayne	45 min
May 17, 6:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OAX	Wayne	47 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Nebraska, 2000 Every tornado warning in 2000 Tornadoes in 2000

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.