Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 9, NWS North Platte, NE

July 24, 2002Wheeler County, Nebraska

NWS North Platte, NE issued this tornado warning at Jul 24, 2002, 6:44 PM CDT for Wheeler County, Nebraska. It was in force for 61 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: Jul 24, 2002, 6:44 PM CDT (23:44 UTC)
Expired: Jul 24, 2002, 7:45 PM CDT
In force: 61 min
Issued by: NWS North Platte, NE
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Wheeler County, NE

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 166 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:48 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
Jul 24, 7:10 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Bartlett, 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.

The watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jul 24, 4:50 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 192 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: 888 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -329 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1470 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 192 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 246 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

249 
WFUS53 KLBF 242344
TORLBF
NEC183-250045-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
642 PM CDT WED JUL 24 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTH PLATTE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WHEELER COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA

* UNTIL 745 PM CDT...

* AT 638 PM CDT...STORM SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO NEAR CHAMBERS AT 
  635 PM...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH.  THE TORNADO DOWNED 
  POWERLINES NEAR CHAMBERS ALSO.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE...
  4 MILES NORTHEAST OF BARTLETT AROUND 725 PM CDT...

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.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

LAT...LON 4206 9873 4178 9873 4177 9833 4206 9833
$$
CDC

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 24, 4:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Holt	63 min
Jul 24, 5:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Loup, Rock	36 min
Jul 24, 5:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Garfield	57 min
Jul 24, 6:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Holt	60 min
Jul 24, 6:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LBF	Garfield	45 min
Jul 24, 6:28 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	LBF	Holt	32 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Nebraska, 2002 Every tornado warning in 2002 Tornadoes 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.