Alert archive / Nebraska / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Hastings, NE
NWS Hastings, NE issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 16, 2002, 4:31 PM CDT for Polk County, York County, Nebraska. It was in force for 59 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 16, 2002, 4:31 PM CDT (21:31 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 16, 2002, 5:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 59 min
- Issued by
- NWS Hastings, NE
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
Counties Polk County, NE, York County, NE
The radar
The Omaha radar (KOAX), 88 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:34 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 16, 5:15 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 57 E | Shelby, 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.
Did it verify
Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.
Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.
The watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 16, 4:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 88 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
- 1529 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -420 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 789 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 404 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 417 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WUUS53 KGID 162131 SVRGRI NEC143-185-162230- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 430 PM CDT TUE APR 16 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HASTINGS HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... POLK COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL NEBRASKA YORK COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL NEBRASKA * UNTIL 530 PM CDT * AT 426 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS 4 MILES WEST OF BENEDICT...OR ABOUT 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF YORK TO ABOUT 10 MILES SOUTH OF YORK... MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS SEVERE STORM INCLUDE STROMSBURG... ...MCCOOL JUNCTION...OSCEOLA AND SHELBY. PEOPLE IN POLK AND YORK COUNTIES SHOULD SEEK SHELTER IN A STURDY STRUCTURE AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH AND LARGE HAIL THE SIZE OF GOLFBALLS ARE LIKELY. LAT...LON 4102 9786 4087 9772 4140 9669 4161 9691 NNNN
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 severe thunderstorm warning went out at Apr 16, 2:30 PM CDT, 2 hours 1 minute earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 16, 2:30 PM CDT, 2 hours 1 minute before
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 230 PM CDT TUE APR 16 2002 MAIN CHALLENGE IS POSSIBLE EVENING WEATHER...THEN TEMPERATURES. LATEST SURFACE ANALYIS SHOWS DRIER AIR INVADING THE AREA...WITH DEW POINTS ONLY HOLDING ON IN THE FAR EAST CWFA. NEGATIVELY TILTED UPPER SHORT WAVE SWINGING OUT OF SOUTHERN HIGH PLAINS WILL PROVIDE PLENTY OF LIFT THIS EVENING...BUT WITH ONLY LIMITED MOISTURE TO WORK WITH...THREAT OF THUNDERSTORMS...LET ALONE SEVERE WEATHER...NOW QUITE SLIM IN GID CWFA. BIGGEST THREAT WOULD BE WIND FROM A HIGH BASED STORM IN THE NORTHEAST CWFA. WILL KEEP A SMALL POP FOR THE EAST...NEAR THE 850 MB DEW POINT BOUNDARY...BUT REMOVE ELSEWHERE. IN THE MEAN TIME...WINDS BEGINNING TO DIMINISH AS BOUNDARIES CROSS THE AREA AND WILL LIKELY CANCEL THE WIND ADVISORY BY AFTN ZFP ISSUANCE. AS WINDS SHIFT TO THE NORTHWEST AND DIMINISH...TEMPS WILL DROP TONIGHT...UNLIKE THE PAST FEW NIGHTS. GUIDANCE GENERALLY ACCEPTED. QUICK RETURN FLOW SETS UP WEDNESDAY AND TEMPS SHOULD RECOVER NICELY...MAYBE EVEN A BIT ABOVE GUIDANCE. BUT STORMS NOT LIKELY TO GET GOING UNTIL NIGHTTIME IN AN AREA OF LOW LEVEL THETA E ADVECTION...WHICH WILL PLACE THE FOCUS NORTHEAST OF OUR AREA...SO WILL LEAVE DRY. NO BIG CHANGES TO THE EXTENDED PACKAGE. COOLER AIR WORKS INTO THE AREA THU NGT...BUT MOISTURE APPEARS TOO LIMITED TO PRODUCE ANY PCPN EXCEPT MAYBE IN THE SOUTH. MADE ONLY SLIGHT DOWNWARD ADJUSTMENTS TO TEMPS FOR THE END OF THE WEEK AS UPPER TROUGH MOVES IN. BEST CHANCE FOR RAIN LOOKS LIKE SUNDAY. .GID...NONE. DROZD
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Apr 16, 11:37 AM CDT, 4 hours 54 minutes before
KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-162130- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 1137 AM CDT TUE APR 16 2002 ...SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED IN PORTIONS OF CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING... STRONG DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL APPEAR TO BE THE MAIN THREAT WITH DEVELOPING STORMS LATER THIS EVENING...MAINLY EAST OF A LINE FROM HIGHWAY 281 AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 80. A VIGOROUS UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL EXIT THE CENTRAL ROCKIES LATER TODAY...AND INTERACT WITH INCREASING INSTABILITY AND AN ADVANCING DRY LINE...FOLLOWED BY A COLD FRONT CROSSING THROUGH NEBRASKA THIS EVENING. THESE BOUNDARIES WILL BE THE TRIGGER FOR THUNDERSTORM FORMATION OVER NEBRASKA AND POSSIBLY PARTS OF KANSAS. THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP IN AREAS GENERALLY TO THE NORTH AND EAST OF THE TRI CITIES LATE THIS AFTERNOON. FURTHER TO THE SOUTH AND WEST...ACTIVITY OF A MORE ISOLATED NATURE WILL BE POSSIBLE. AS THE COLD FRONT AND DRY LINE RACE EASTWARD ACROSS NEBRASKA LATE THIS EVENING...THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL SUBSIDE. SPOTTER GROUPS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT PERSONNEL SHOULD CLOSELY MONITOR THE WEATHER SITUATION THROUGHOUT THE DAY. AN UPDATED HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED AS CONDITIONS WARRANT.
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Nebraska, 2002Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2002
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.