Alert archive / Nebraska / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 94, NWS Hastings, NE

May 27, 2002Clay County, Nebraska

NWS Hastings, NE issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 27, 2002, 11:57 PM CDT for Clay County, Nebraska. It was in force for 63 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, 11:57 PM CDT (04:57 UTC)
Expired: May 28, 2002, 1:00 AM CDT
In force: 63 min
Issued by: NWS Hastings, NE
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Clay County, NE

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 34 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:57 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 28, 12:01 AM CDT	Hail 0.88	Fairfield, 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 nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 5.0 hours before the alert went out and 172 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: 555 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -117 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1882 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -16 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 49 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS53 KGID 280457
SVRGRI
NEC035-280600-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
1157 PM CDT MON MAY 27 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HASTINGS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  CLAY COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA

* UNTIL 100 AM CDT

* AT 1152 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER FAIRFIELD...OR ABOUT 16 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
  HASTINGS...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  CLAY CENTER AT 1220 AM CDT
  HARVARD AT 1230 AM CDT

PEOPLE IN CLAY COUNTY SHOULD SEEK SHELTER IN A STURDY STRUCTURE AND
STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

THE PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER THREAT IS LARGE HAIL THE SIZE OF QUARTERS.

LAT...LON 4047 9828 4036 9809 4052 9782 4069 9810

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, 10 hours 17 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 27, 1:40 PM CDT, 10 hours 17 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, 5 hours 4 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

Local storm report, May 27, 11:15 PM CDT, 42 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
1115 PM CDT MON MAY 27 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1045 PM    5 NE ARCADIA              NE   1 INCH HAIL
05/27/02   VALLEY                         REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

1045 PM    ELYRIA                    NE   .75 INCH HAIL
05/27/02   VALLEY                         REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

1110 PM    SCOTIA                    NE   .88 INCH HAIL
05/27/02   GREELEY                        REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

Local storm report, May 27, 11:25 PM CDT, 32 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
1125 PM CDT MON MAY 27 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1120 PM    COTESFIELD                NE   1 INCH HAIL
05/27/02   HOWARD                         REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

1120 PM    4 NE FARWELL              NE   .88 INCH HAIL
05/27/02   HOWARD                         REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.

Local storm report, May 27, 11:30 PM CDT, 27 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
1130 PM CDT MON MAY 27 2002

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

1110 PM    SHELTON                   NE   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/27/02   BUFFALO                        REPORTED BY STORM
                                          SPOTTER.

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, 10:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Sherman	62 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 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.