Alert archive / Nebraska / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 90, NWS Hastings, NE

May 27, 2002Sherman County, Nebraska

NWS Hastings, NE issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 27, 2002, 10:28 PM CDT for Sherman County, Nebraska. It was in force for 62 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: May 27, 2002, 10:28 PM CDT (03:28 UTC)
Expired: May 27, 2002, 11:30 PM CDT
In force: 62 min
Issued by: NWS Hastings, NE
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Sherman County, NE

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 116 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:27 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 27, 10:45 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Hazard, 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
May 27, 7:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 00:00Z, 3.5 hours before the alert went out and 129 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: 2225 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -21 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1732 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 36 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 169 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.3
Supercell composite: 5.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS53 KGID 280328
SVRGRI
NEC163-280430-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
1027 PM CDT MON MAY 27 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HASTINGS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SHERMAN COUNTY IN CENTRAL NEBRASKA

* UNTIL 1130 PM CDT

* AT 1022 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM 17 MILES NORTHWEST OF LOUP CITY
  TO 12 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LITCHFIELD...OR FROM 22 MILES EAST OF
  BROKEN BOW TO 26 MILES SOUTHEAST OF BROKEN BOW...MOVING EAST AT 40
  MPH.

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE NEAR...
  HAZARD AT 1035 PM CDT
  LOUP CITY AT 1040 PM CDT
  SHERMAN RESERVOIR DAM AT 1045 PM CDT
  ROCKVILLE AT 1050 PM CDT

PEOPLE IN SHERMAN COUNTY 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 DIMES AND NICKELS IS LIKELY.

LAT...LON 4140 9923 4129 9933 4105 9937 4104 9877
          4121 9877 4138 9877

NNNN

09

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 May 27, 1:40 PM CDT, 8 hours 48 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 27, 1:40 PM CDT, 8 hours 48 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
140 PM CDT MON MAY 27 2002

...STORM CHCS TONIGHT MAIN PROBLEM...

RECOVERY ONGOING THIS AFTN IN WAKE OF LAST EVENINGS ACTIVITY.
MESO HIGH WAS STILL EVIDENT IN SFC PLOTS EARLIER THIS AM OVR SE NE.
APPEARS FM SFC WINDS THAT OLD OUTFLW BNDRY EXTENDS ACRS NRN KS.
OLD SYNOPTIC BNDRY STILL APPEARS TO BE PLACE OVR NRN NE AS WELL.
SITU CONTS QUITE DIFFUSE IN TERMS OF LG SCALE TRIGGER BUT WK SW
TROF EMBEDDED WITH SRN EDGE OF NRN STREAM WESTERLIES ALG WY/NE
BORDER SHLD PROVIDE ENOUGH IMPETUS COMBINED WITH FVRBL ERLY UPSLOPE
FLW TO FIRE CONVN AGAIN LT THIS AFTN OVR WRN NE.

ALTHOUGH MODELS QUITE AGREEABLE IN LG SCALE SENSE...FINITE DETAILS
QUITE DIFFERENT. ETA/META/RUC ALL AGREE ON LT AFTN/EARLY EVE
DVLPMNTS ALG OLD OUTFLW ACROSS NRN KS/SRN NE AND OVR WRN NE. PROB
W/KS ACTIVITY IS INHERENTLY WK MID LVL FLW AND HOW THAT ACTIVITY WILL
PROPAGATE. STORMS THAT DO FIRE FURTHER N IN REGION OF BTR MID LVL
FLW AND SHLD PROPAGATE E INTO CENTRAL NE AFT DARK. ALTHOUGH
PROGGED INSTABILITY GREAT...SIG LACK OF DEEP LYR SHEAR WILL STAVE
OFF WIDESPREAD SVR THREAT OVR GID CWA. ON TUE/TUE NIGHT...SRN STREAM
CUTOFF OVR OK LOOKS TO GARNER THE MOST ATTN. LTL UNCERTAINTY HERE
GIVEN OVERALL SYNOPTIC SCALE COLL IN PLACE. BY WED...MORE ENERGETIC
SYS DRIVING THRU FLAT WESTERLIES ALG US/CAN BORDER...WILL REFOCUS OLD
SYNOPTIC FNT ACRS NE ALLOWING FOR ANOTHER AT LEAST SLGT STORM CHC BY
AFTN.

IN THE EXTNDD...FAIRLY BLOCKED PATTN CONTS SO NO BIG CHGS XPCD. SWRN
UPR RIDGE SHIFTS SLIGHTLY EWD IN RESPONSE TO DEEP SYS PIN-WHEELING
THRU BEARING STRAITS. THIS ALLOWS FOR INHERENT SHIFT IN THERMAL RIDGE
OUT INTO THE PLAINS AND WARMING TEMPS INTO LATE WEEK. HWVR...PENDING
HOW RENEWED DOWNSTREAM TROFFING THRU ERN US BY NXT WEEKEND TAKES
PLACE...NXT WEEKEND INTO NXT WEEK COULD END UP QUITE WET AGAIN GIVEN
FVRBL UPR RIDGE POSITION AND CONTD ONSLAUGHT OF NRN STREAM WV TRAIN.

.GID...NONE.

TEH

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 27, 6:53 PM CDT, 3 hours 35 minutes before

KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-281200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
653 PM CDT MON MAY 27 2002

...SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED ACROSS A PORTION OF SOUTH
CENTRAL NEBRASKA THIS EVENING...

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE TONIGHT ACROSS A PART OF SOUTH
CENTRAL NEBRASKA...MOST LIKELY WEST OF A FULLERTON...TO GRAND
ISLAND...TO HOLDREGE LINE.

STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN WESTERN NEBRASKA WILL MOVE EAST
THIS EVENING...AND INTO A MORE UNSTABLE ENVIRONMENT IN SOUTH CENTRAL
NEBRASKA. THE STORM COMPLEX IS EXPECTED TO ORGANIZE INTO A LINE AND
SHIFT EAST BY LATE EVENING. THE MAIN SEVERE WEATHER THREATS ARE
LARGE HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...AND WINDS GUSTS IN EXCESS OF
60 MPH. THE PRIMARY TIME FRAME OF SEVERE ACTIVITY WILL BE BETWEEN
8 PM AND 2 AM. LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN OF 1 TO 2 INCHES IS POSSIBLE.

AS THE STORMS CONTINUE EAST LATE THIS EVENING...THE RISK FOR SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL EXTEND ACROSS THE REST SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA...
MAINLY NORTH OF HIGHWAY 6. SPOTTER GROUPS AND EMERGENCY MANAGERS
SHOULD MONITOR THIS SITUATION CLOSELY...AND BE PREPARED TO ACTIVATE
AS NECESSARY.

MORITZ

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 27, 10:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Valley	55 min
May 27, 10:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Buffalo, Hall, Howard	62 min
May 27, 11:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Greeley	48 min
May 27, 11:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	York	54 min
May 27, 11:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Clay	63 min
May 28, 12:21 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Fillmore	54 min
May 28, 12:22 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Adams	53 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Nebraska, 2002 Every 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.