Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Omaha, NE

June 12, 2002Butler County, Platte County, Nebraska

NWS Omaha, NE issued this tornado warning at Jun 12, 2002, 4:53 PM CDT for Butler County, Platte County, Nebraska. It was in force for 37 min. 2 reports 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
Jun 12, 2002, 4:53 PM CDT (21:53 UTC)
Expired
Jun 12, 2002, 5:30 PM CDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Omaha, NE
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Butler County, NE, Platte County, NE

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 87 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:55 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 12, 4:55 PM CDTHail 1.75Duncan, NEHail up to golfball size pelted an area of southern Platte county from around Duncan to the southern sections of Columbus. In fact, there was even one unofficial report that some stones were as big as baseball size in between Duncan and Columbus on highway 30
Jun 12, 5:18 PM CDTHail 1.75Bellwood, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jun 12, 12:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr
Jun 12, 4:15 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 87 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 2002-06-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2034 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 2002-06-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -47 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
2034 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-29 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
700 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-47 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
61 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.5
Supercell composite
-2.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KOAX 122153
TOROMA
NEC023-141-122230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OMAHA NE
453 PM CDT WED JUN 12 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OMAHA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN BUTLER COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL NEBRASKA
  PLATTE COUNTY IN NORTHEAST NEBRASKA
  THIS INCLUDES THE CITY OF COLUMBUS

* UNTIL 530 PM CDT

* AT 450 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE STORM WITH A POSSIBLE
  TORNADO. THE MOST DANGEROUS PART OF THE STORM WAS LOCATED 4 MILES
  NORTHEAST OF DUNCAN...OR ABOUT 4 MILES WEST OF COLUMBUS...MOVING
  SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED...
  BELLWOOD AND COLUMBUS

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...GO TO A BASEMENT. IF A BASEMENT
IS NOT AVAILABLE...TAKE COVER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST LEVEL
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS. AVOID WINDOWS.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM CDT WEDNESDAY EVENING
FOR SOUTHWESTERN IOWA AND EASTERN NEBRASKA.

LAT...LON 4153 9746 4139 9759 4125 9732 4137 9719

GRIFFIS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 11, 7:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXJefferson33 min
Jun 11, 7:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXGage27 min
Jun 11, 8:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXGage31 min
Jun 12, 3:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXSarpy, Saunders27 min
Jun 12, 3:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXLancaster, Seward38 min
Jun 12, 4:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXCass, Lancaster, Saunders29 min
Jun 12, 4:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXPlatte37 min
Jun 12, 5:01 PM CDTTornado WarningOAXCass29 min
Jun 12, 5:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXButler31 min
Jun 12, 5:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXCass30 min
Jun 12, 5:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXDodge, Saunders37 min
Jun 12, 5:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXSeward32 min
Jun 12, 6:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXButler30 min
Jun 12, 6:17 PM CDTTornado WarningOAXSeward28 min
Jun 12, 6:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXLancaster, Saunders29 min
Jun 12, 6:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXSaline, Seward30 min
Jun 12, 6:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXBurt, Washington33 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.