Alert archive / Nebraska / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 11, NWS Hastings, NE

April 18, 2003Sherman County, Nebraska

NWS Hastings, NE issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 18, 2003, 5:15 PM CDT for Sherman County, Nebraska. It was in force for 45 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: Apr 18, 2003, 5:15 PM CDT (22:15 UTC)
Expired: Apr 18, 2003, 6:00 PM CDT
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Hastings, NE
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Sherman County, NE

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 112 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:14 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.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The nearest sounding before it

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 136 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: 1 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 491 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 329 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 414 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

304 
WUUS53 KGID 182215
SVRGID
NEC163-182300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
514 PM CDT FRI APR 18 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HASTINGS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SHERMAN COUNTY IN CENTRAL NEBRASKA

* UNTIL 600 PM CDT

* AT 509 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 6 MILES SOUTH OF LOUP CITY...MOVING NORTHEAST 
  AT 30 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  ASHTON AT 520 PM CDT
  SHERMAN RESERVOIR DAM AT 525 PM CDT

PEOPLE IN SHERMAN COUNTY SHOULD SEEK SHELTER IN A STURDY STRUCTURE
AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

LAT...LON 4136 9913 4106 9910 4106 9877 4139 9877
$$
NNNN

16

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Apr 18, 2:30 PM CDT, 2 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 18, 2:30 PM CDT, 2 hours 45 minutes before

SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
230 PM CDT FRI APR 18 2003

AS THOUGHT YESTERDAY...FIRST SHORTWAVE THROUGH AND FIRST BATCH OF
CONVECTION INTO OMA AREA...AND NEXT...SFC AND UPR WAVE WEST OF
OFFICE WITH 1MB PR PRESSURE DROPS AND LOW LOOKING TO MOVE OVR NRN
HALF OF CWA. NOTHING ELSE HAS REALLY CHANGED MUCH...WITH MID 50 DPTS
SHOWING ACROSS KANSAS COUNTIES WITH DRY PUSH WEST OF COUNTIES MOVING
THIS WAY. SUNSHINE INFILTRATING SWRN PORTION OF FA WITH SFC TEMPS
INTO 60S OVR KS AREA. EXCELLENT LL INSTABILITY WITH =8
LAPSE...HOWEVER MID LVL RATES FALL OFF SOMEWHAT. CONVECTION STARTING
JUST WEST OF PHILLIPS AND ROOKS COUNTIES WITH NEW BATCH OF SHOWERS
STARTING UP IN LBFS ERN PORTION. STORM MOTION NNE NRN HALF AND ENE
SRN HALF. CLOUDS OVR NRN TWO THIRDS OF FA KEEPING LID ON THINGS
ELSEWHERE. HUGE LL SHEAR MOVING INTO CWA WITH EXTREMELY STRONG LL
ASCENT GOING ON. LL MOISTURE TRYING TO RETURN RAPIDLY INTO AREAS
FROM SSE AHEAD OF LOW. DRY AIR ALREADY MOVING INTO HLC AS THIS IS
WRITTEN. EXPECTING NEW BATCH OF TSRW TO START AND RIDE ACROSS NRN
CWA...ROUGHLY N OF I 80 THROUGH MID EVE...WITH STRONGER CONVECTION
OCCURRING AS TEMPS RISE WITH SUNSHINE SERN AND ERN ZONES. BEST CHC
FOR SEVERE ACTION LOOKS TO BE MOSTLY E AND SE OF FA...HOWEVER
COMBINATION OF INGREDIENTS...ESPECIALLY STRONG BOUNDARY LAYER SHEAR
WILL PUT CHANCE FOR ROUGH ACTION INITIATING FROM MITCHELL AND JEWELL
COUNTIES IN KS...UP THROUGH THAYER FILLMORE AND YORK COUNTIES IN NE.
WOULD SAY THAT MAIN THREAT WILL BE FROM HAIL TO AN INCH AND POSSIBLE
STRONG WIND WITH LCL RISING QUICKLY TO 4000 FT OR SO. ALSO POSSIBLE
ISO TOR CHANCES WITH EARLY STRONG CONVECTION AND SMALL SUPERCELL
FORMATION WHERE MOISTURE IS MORE PLENTIFUL...BUT AGAIN PROBABLY E
OR SE OF FA. OTHERWISE SHARP LINE OF STORMS LOOK TO LIGHT UP FROM S
TO N AND MAY CATCH OUR FAR ERN ZONES BEFORE RIDING INTO OMA AND TOP
AREA. SHOULD BE RATHER BRIEF SEVERE POTENTIAL FOR US HOWEVER...IF AT
ALL. OTHERWISE...MOST OF CWA EXCEPT FOR SWRN PORTION SHOULD HAVE
DECENT CHC FOR SHOWERS AND THUNDER...WITH BEST CHC FOR ACTUAL WATER
OVR NRN QUARTER.

NEXT WEEK AS WHOLE CONTINUES TO LOOK ACTIVE. PUT CHC FOR SERN HALF
CWA FOR LATER IN DAY SAT WITH TROUGH AXIS CONTINUING TO PULL OVR
REGION...AND EXTREMELY VOLATILE SITUATION SETTING SOUTH OF OUR
AREA...INTO SRN KS AND OK. CONVECTION LIKELY TO RIDE RIGHT UP AND
INTO AT LEAST SERN PORTION OF FA. ANOTHER CHC FOR SUN AFTERNOON EVE
WITH SHORTWAVE ENERGY MOVING IN OVR NERN ZONES AROUND BACKSIDE OF
TROUGH. THROUGH REST OF EXTENDED...NO REAL CHANGES OTHER THAN
STARTING CHANCES FOR PRECIP TUE WITH MORE SHORTWAVE ENERGY RIDING
OVERHEAD...BUT LIKELY ELEVATED PRECIP ONLY.

.GID...NONE.

10

Hazardous weather outlook, Apr 18, 11:59 AM CDT, 5 hours 16 minutes before

KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-191200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
1159 AM CDT FRI APR 18 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND
PARTS OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT

A SURFACE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM SITUATED IN SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA AT NOON
WILL MOVE EAST ACROSS THE STATE DURING THE AFTERNOON AND INTO THE
EVENING. THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP TO THE EAST AND SOUTHEAST OF THIS
LOW.  EXTENSIVE CLOUD COVER WILL HELP LIMIT INSTABILITY EARLY THIS
AFTERNOON...HOWEVER DRIER AIR WILL MOVE IN FROM THE SOUTHWEST
RESULTING IN SOME CLEARING SKIES AS THE AFTERNOON WEARS ON.

WIND SHEAR IN THE ATMOSPHERE WILL BE CONDUCIVE FOR SUPERCELL
DEVELOPMENT THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...BUT AVAILABLE LOW LEVEL
MOISTURE WILL BE BETTER IN THE EASTERN PARTS OF NEBRASKA AND KANSAS.

STORM DEVELOPMENT IS POSSIBLE AFTER 3 PM...AND SOME OF THESE
STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE...WITH LARGE HAIL BEING THE PRIMARY
SEVERE HAZARD. HAIL THE SIZE OF GOLFBALLS IS POSSIBLE MAINLY OVER
AREAS EAST OF HIGHWAY 281.  MINI SUPERCELL TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE AS
WELL...ALTHOUGH THAT THREAT LOOKS TO BE FURTHER TO THE EAST OF THE
LISTENING AREA.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS
EVENING...MAINLY FOR AREAS ALONG AND EAST OF ROUTE 281.

EWALD

In the hours before

Local storm report, Apr 18, 4:23 PM CDT, 52 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
420 PM CST FRI APR 18 2003

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

420 AM     RURAL                     NE   TORNADO HWY 21
04/18/03   DAWSON                        MILE MARKER 40
                                         REPORTED BY STATE
                                         PATROL.

Local storm report, Apr 18, 4:30 PM CDT, 45 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
430 PM CDT TUE APR 18 2003

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0424 PM    2N EDDYVILLE              NE   0.75 TO .88 HAIL
04/18/03   DAWSON                         REPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.
                                          AT HIGHWAY 21 AND
                                          BUFFALO ROAD.

10

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 18, 4:08 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GID	Dawson	37 min
Apr 18, 5:28 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GID	Sherman	32 min
Apr 18, 5:29 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GID	Sherman	31 min
Apr 18, 5:44 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GID	Valley	46 min
Apr 18, 5:56 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GID	Greeley	49 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Nebraska, 2003 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2003

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.