Alert archive / Wyoming / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Riverton, WY

August 21, 2002Big Horn County, Wyoming

NWS Riverton, WY issued this tornado warning at Aug 21, 2002, 3:53 PM MDT for Big Horn County, Wyoming. It was in force for 52 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Aug 21, 2002, 3:53 PM MDT (21:53 UTC)
Expired
Aug 21, 2002, 4:45 PM MDT
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Riverton, WY
Area
Whole counties

County Big Horn County, WY

The radar

The Billings radar (KBLX), 155 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:54 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
Aug 21, 4:05 PM MDTHail 1.75Emblem, WY

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 nearest sounding before it

Riverton, WY (KRIW), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 165 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, Riverton, WY at 12:00Z on 2002-08-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 82 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Riverton, WY at 12:00Z on 2002-08-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 8 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
82 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-249 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2084 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
205 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 
WFUS55 KRIW 212153
TORRIW
WYC003-212245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RIVERTON WY
353 PM MDT WED AUG 21 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN RIVERTON HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CENTRAL BIG HORN COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING

* UNTIL 445 PM MDT

* AT 353 PM MDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO OVER WEST CENTRAL BIG HORN
  COUNTY...OR ABOUT 20 MILES WEST OF GREYBULL...MOVING NORTHEAST AT
  35 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE...
  OVER RURAL CENTRAL BIG HORN COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING AROUND
  410 PM MDT
  OVER RURAL NORTHERN BIG HORN COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL WYOMING AROUND
  430 PM MDT

THIS TORNADO WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
PREVIOUSLY ISSUED FOR THE WARNED AREA.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY STURDY BUILDING.
AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK REFUGE IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND
COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS. BEWARE OF THE THREAT OF RISING
WATER.

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY. THEY
WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST
OFFICE IN RIVERTON.

$$
LAT...LON 4452 10856 4440 10837 4469 10784 4489 10806

SKRBAC

WCJIN-WYNW

The office that day

Everything else NWS Riverton, WY issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 21, 3:48 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRIWBig Horn42 min
Aug 21, 3:53 PM MDTTornado WarningRIWBig Horn52 min
Aug 21, 4:58 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRIWJohnson62 min
Aug 21, 5:28 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRIWJohnson, Natrona47 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Wyoming, 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.