Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Watches in 2002

Tornado Watch 546

July 28, 200219 counties in Iowa; 20 counties in Kansas; 22 counties in Nebraska

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jul 28, 2002, 4:50 PM CDT for 19 counties in Iowa; 20 counties in Kansas; 22 counties in Nebraska. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jul 28, 2002, 4:50 PM CDT (21:50 UTC)
Expired: Jul 28, 2002, 10:00 PM CDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 61 counties

Audubon County, IA, Buena Vista County, IA, Calhoun County, IA, Carroll County, IA, Cherokee County, IA, Crawford County, IA, Fremont County, IA, Greene County, IA, Harrison County, IA, Humboldt County, IA, Ida County, IA, Mills County, IA, Monona County, IA, Pocahontas County, IA, Pottawattamie County, IA, Sac County, IA, Shelby County, IA, Webster County, IA, Woodbury County, IA, Barton County, KS, Clay County, KS, Cloud County, KS, Dickinson County, KS, Ellsworth County, KS, Jewell County, KS, Lincoln County, KS, Marshall County, KS, McPherson County, KS, Mitchell County, KS, Osborne County, KS, Ottawa County, KS, Pawnee County, KS, Republic County, KS, Rice County, KS, Riley County, KS, Rush County, KS, Russell County, KS, Saline County, KS, Washington County, KS, Burt County, NE, Butler County, NE, Cass County, NE, Dodge County, NE, Douglas County, NE, Fillmore County, NE, Gage County, NE, Jefferson County, NE, Johnson County, NE, Lancaster County, NE, Nemaha County, NE, Nuckolls County, NE, Otoe County, NE, Pawnee County, NE, Saline County, NE, Sarpy County, NE, Saunders County, NE, Seward County, NE, Thayer County, NE, Thurston County, NE, Washington County, NE, York County, NE

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:51 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.

Warnings issued inside it

10 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 28, 4:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Barton, Russell	67 min
Jul 28, 5:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Jewell	31 min
Jul 28, 5:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Ellsworth	55 min
Jul 28, 6:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Rice	64 min
Jul 28, 7:05 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	McPherson	55 min
Jul 28, 7:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Woodbury	43 min
Jul 28, 8:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Ida, Woodbury	46 min
Jul 28, 8:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Sac	37 min
Jul 28, 9:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FSD	Buena Vista	42 min
Jul 28, 9:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DMX	Calhoun	38 min

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 168 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: 453 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -295 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1877 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 55 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 93 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 282148
SEL6  
SPC WW 282150
IAZ000-KSZ000-NEZ000-290300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 546
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
450 PM CDT SUN JUL 28 2002

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   WESTERN IOWA                               
   CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST KANSAS                             
   EASTERN NEBRASKA                           

EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 450 PM UNTIL 1000
PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 60 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 50 MILES WEST OF HUTCHINSON KANSAS TO 40 MILES
NORTHWEST OF FORT DODGE IOWA.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 542...WW 543...WW
544...WW 545...

DISCUSSION...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE DEVELOPING
ALONG/AHEAD OF SURFACE CONVERGENCE LINE FROM ERN NEB SSWWD INTO
SWRN KS.  VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS E OF LINE ALONG WITH INCREASINGLY
FAVORABLE SHEAR PROFILES AHEAD OF APPROACHING MID LEVEL TROUGH WILL
SUPPORT SUPERCELLS ENHANCING THREAT FOR LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS
AND ISOLATED TORNADOES.


AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 600. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25030.


...HALES

425,0933 380,0974 380,0995 425,0955

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 27, 8:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Allamakee, Benton, Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler and 21 more	5 hr
Jul 28, 1:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Cherokee, Dickinson, Lyon, O'Brien, Osceola, Plymouth and 2 more	5 hr
Jul 28, 3:55 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Cerro Gordo, Chickasaw, Clay, Emmet, Floyd, Hancock and 6 more	5 hr
Jul 28, 6:05 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Cheyenne, Decatur, Finney, Gove, Graham, Grant and 22 more	6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Nebraska, 2002 Tornado Watches in Kansas, 2002 Tornado Watches in Iowa, 2002 Every tornado watch 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.