Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Hastings, NE

May 5, 2002Merrick County, Nebraska

NWS Hastings, NE issued this tornado warning at May 5, 2002, 6:12 PM CDT for Merrick County, Nebraska. It was in force for 48 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 5, 2002, 6:12 PM CDT (23:12 UTC)
Expired
May 5, 2002, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Hastings, NE
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Merrick County, NE

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 103 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:12 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 5, 4:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 143 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 2002-05-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Omaha, NE at 12:00Z on 2002-05-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 242 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1239 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
242 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
208 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 
WFUS53 KGID 052312
TORGRI
NEC121-060000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
611 PM CDT SUN MAY 5 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HASTINGS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  MERRICK COUNTY IN CENTRAL NEBRASKA

* UNTIL 700 PM CDT

* AT 607 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  DEVELOPING TORNADO 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CHAPMAN...OR ABOUT 9 MILES
  EAST OF GRAND ISLAND...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  CHAPMAN AT 620 PM CDT
  ARCHER AT 640 PM CDT
  CENTRAL CITY AT 645 PM CDT
  CLARKS AT 700 PM CDT

SPOTTERS HAVE REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD WITH THIS STORM.

THIS WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING ISSUED EARLIER.

PEOPLE IN MERRICK COUNTY SHOULD TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY IN A
BASEMENT OR SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.

NEVER TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. IF IN A VEHICLE...LEAVE IT IMMEDIATELY
AND GET INSIDE A STURDY SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE
FLAT IN THE NEAREST DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

LAT...LON 4124 9829 4089 9826 4134 9763 4130 9791

NNNN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 5, 4:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDFranklin56 min
May 5, 5:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDWebster54 min
May 5, 5:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDAdams41 min
May 5, 5:31 PM CDTTornado WarningGIDWebster44 min
May 5, 5:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDClay, Hall, Hamilton63 min
May 5, 6:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDMerrick59 min
May 5, 6:16 PM CDTTornado WarningGIDNuckolls, Webster44 min
May 5, 6:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDKearney51 min
May 5, 6:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDNance38 min
May 5, 6:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDBuffalo51 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Nebraska, 2002Every tornado warning in 2002Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.