Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 28, NWS North Platte, NE

July 17, 2001Holt County, Nebraska

NWS North Platte, NE issued this tornado warning at Jul 17, 2001, 7:19 PM CDT for Holt County, Nebraska. It was in force for 56 min. 2 reports 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
Jul 17, 2001, 7:19 PM CDT (00:19 UTC)
Expired
Jul 17, 2001, 8:15 PM CDT
In force
56 min
Issued by
NWS North Platte, NE
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Holt County, NE

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 144 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:23 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
Jul 17, 7:20 PM CDTTornado F0Taylor, NEAs the supercell continued to track northeast and intensify, a second tornado touched down on the north side of the reservoir about 17 miles north northeast of Taylor. The second tornado was larger and longer lived as it moved across open rangeland. Four windm
Jul 17, 7:55 PM CDTTornado F0Burwell, NEA tornado touched down briefly 6 miles northeast of Burwell in open rangeland with no damage.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jul 17, 5:45 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 00:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 187 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, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 2001-07-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1531 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 2001-07-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -18 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
1531 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-93 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2422 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-18 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
66 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KLBF 180021
TORLBF

NEC089-180115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
719 PM CDT TUE JUL 17 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTH PLATTE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN HOLT COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA

* UNTIL 815 PM CDT

* AT 717 PM CDT...LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS REPORTED A TORNADO ON   
  THE GROUND 5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF CHAMBERS...OR ABOUT 21 MILES
  SOUTH OF O'NEILL...THE STORM IS MOVING SLOWLY SOUTHEAST UNDER
  5 MILES AN HOUR.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE...
  OVER FARM AND RANGELANDS OF EXTREME SOUTH CENTRAL HOLT COUNTY  
  SOUTH OF CHAMBERS

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW
SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINSr IN EFFECT UNTIL 1100 PM CDT TUESDAY EVENING
FOR NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA.

LAT...LON 4227 9923 4210 9922 4210 9832 4227 9831

$$

&&

TLK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 17, 7:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFLoup60 min
Jul 17, 7:18 PM CDTTornado WarningLBFGarfield, Loup42 min
Jul 17, 7:59 PM CDTTornado WarningLBFGarfield61 min
Jul 17, 9:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFGarfield59 min
Jul 17, 10:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFGarfield30 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Nebraska, 2001Every tornado warning in 2001Tornadoes in 2001

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.