Alert archive / Nebraska / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 203, NWS Hastings, NE

July 5, 2003Merrick County, Nance County, Nebraska

NWS Hastings, NE issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 5, 2003, 11:00 PM CDT for Merrick County, Nance County, Nebraska. It was in force for 60 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 5, 2003, 11:00 PM CDT (04:00 UTC)
Expired
Jul 6, 2003, 12:00 AM CDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Hastings, NE
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Merrick County, NE, Nance County, NE

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 113 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:00 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.

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jul 5, 7:20 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 4.0 hours before the alert went out and 137 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 00:00Z on 2003-07-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2840 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 2003-07-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 133 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2840 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-46 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1471 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
133 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
232 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.8
Supercell composite
11.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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 Jul 5, 2:24 PM CDT, 8 hours 36 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 5, 2:24 PM CDT, 8 hours 36 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
224 PM CDT SAT JUL 5 2003

TSTM POTENTIAL NEXT COUPLE OF DAYS THE MAIN CONCERN

WATER VAPOR IMAGERY AND MORNING UPPER AIR ANALYSIS YIELDED A FAIRLY
ZONAL YET ACTIVE PATTERN ACROSS THE CONUS.  ALTHOUGH STRONGEST
ENERGY ACROSS CANADA...SEVERAL SHORTWAVES WILL INTERACT WITH
BOUNDARIES ACROSS THE CWA TO PRODUCE INTERMITTENT TSTMS THE NEXT FEW
DAYS.  AT THE SFC AS OF 18Z...SFC LOW WAS LOCATED IN NE COLORADO
WITH WARM FRONT STRETCHING ACROSS SOUTHERN NEBRASKA ROUGHLY ALONG
HWY 6.  SFC DPS GENERALLY 65-70F ACROSS THE CWA.  CONVECTION HAS
BEEN ONGOING ACROSS NORTHERN HALF OF CWA ALL DAY...AND SEVERAL
OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES EVIDENT ON VISIBLE SATELLITE IMAGERY.

EXPECT CONVECTION TO CONTINUE THRU EVENING AHEAD OF APPROACHING MID
LEVEL WAVE PROGRESSING EAST FM EASTERN WY/CO.  FOCUS WILL BE AHEAD
OF WARM FRONT AND ALSO ALONG THE OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES.  SVR POTENTIAL
EXISTS THRU EVENING IN UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE WITH CAPES AVERAGING 2300
J/KG AND LLVL FLOW ENHANCES WITH APPROACHING WAVE.  SPC DAY1
PLACES NORTHERN 1/3 OF CWA (ESSENTIALLY INTERSTATE 80 NORTH)
IN MODERATE RISK.  PRIMARY HAZARD IS WIND/HAIL...AND WE ALREADY HAD
ONE REPORT OF 50 MPH WIND GUST FROM A COLLAPSING STORM.

CONVECTION SHLD ORGANIZE AND SHIFT EAST OF CWA BY LATE EVENING AS
WAVE PROGRESSES INTO IOWA.  SUNDAY SHLD REMAIN DRY AND WARM DURING
THE DAY AHEAD OF NEXT DEVELOPING SFC TROF AS STRONG WAVE PROGRESSES
TOWARD NORTH DAKOTA.  SFC COLD FRONT BEGINS TO PUSH SOUTHEAST INTO
CWA AFT 00Z SUNDAY EVENING AND FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL BE FOCUS FOR
TSTMS.  WITH MAIN ENERGY REMAINING WELL TO THE NORTH...FRONTAL
BOUNDARY STALLS ACROSS CENTRAL NEBRASKA ON MONDAY.  WITH BOUNDARY
ACROSS THE CWA...INTERMITTENT CHCS FOR TSTMS CONTINUE THRU TUES
NIGHT.  BEST CHCS WILL REMAIN IN NEB COUNTIES IN VCNTY OF BOUNDARY
BUT RESIDUAL OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES WILL WARRANT AT LEAST SOME CHC FOR
REMAINDER OF THE CWA.

HAVE MAINTAINED CONSISTENCY OF PREVIOUS FORECAST WITH DRY WEATHER
WED THRU SAT AS UPPER RIDGE AXIS BUILDS ACROSS THE CENTRAL PLAINS.
LATEST GFS IS ABOUT A DAY SLOWER WITH BUILDING RIDGE AND LINGERS
PCPN INTO WED ASSOCIATED WITH SHORTWAVE ACROSS SD.  THIS WILL BE
MONITORED IN SUBSEQUENT SHIFTS.  STRENGTHENING MID LEVEL CAP WITH H7
TEMPS REACHING AOA 16C SHLD INHIBIT CONVECTION REMAINDER OF THE
EXTENDED.

.GID...NONE.

FAY
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 5, 8:11 PM CDT, 2 hours 49 minutes before
KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-061200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
811 PM CDT SAT JUL 5 2003

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

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT

A CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL EXIST TONIGHT MAINLY ALONG AND NORTH
OF THE KANSAS NEBRASKA STATE LINE.  SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL
BE POSSIBLE OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE OUTLOOK AREA BUT ARE EXPECTED
TO REMAIN BELOW SEVERE LEVELS.

A NEARLY STATIONARY FRONT ACROSS CENTRAL NEBRASKA WILL ACT AS THE
FOCUS FOR ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT OVER THE AREA TONIGHT.
AMPLE MOISTURE ALONG WITH WARM TEMPERATURES HAS ALLOWED THE
ATMOSPHERE TO BECOME VERY UNSTABLE OVER THE REGION. THIS ALONG WITH
STRONG WINDS ALOFT WILL ALLOW SOME OF THESE STORMS TO BECOME
SEVERE.  LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE THE PRIMARY THREAT
BUT AN ISOLATED TORNADO OR TWO WILL BE POSSIBLE MAINLY NORTH OF
INTERSTATE 80 THROUGH THE EVENING AND EARLY OVERNIGHT HOURS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY

ANOTHER CHANCE OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL OCCUR SUNDAY EVENING AND
MONDAY AS A COLD FRONT SLIDES SOUTH INTO SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA.
AT THIS TIME...THUNDERSTORM COVERAGE APPEARS AS THOUGH IT WILL BE
LIMITED. THE BEST SHOT FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE ACROSS AREAS NORTH
OF INTERSTATE 80 IN PARTICULAR. ALSO ON SUNDAY...TEMPERATURES WILL
RANGE FROM 95 TO 105 DEGREES. IF YOU PLAN STRENUOUS OUTDOOR
ACTIVITIES...USE COMMON SENSE AND DO NOT OVERWORK YOURSELF.

LINGERING THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WILL CONTINUE TUESDAY BEFORE A RIDGE
OF HIGH PRESSURE SQUELCHES THE RISK FOR STORMS LATE IN THE WEEK.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED TONIGHT...MAINLY ALONG
AND NORTH OF THE KANSAS NEBRASKA STATE LINE.

AWJ

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 5, 7:31 PM CDT, 3 hours 29 minutes before
NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-060100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
731 PM CDT SAT JUL 5 2003

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REPLACED WITH TORNADO WATCH...

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 645 WHICH WAS PREVIOUSLY IN EFFECT
UNTIL 10 PM...HAS BEEN REPLACED WITH TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 651 WHICH
IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 AM.

FAY
Local storm report, Jul 5, 8:19 PM CDT, 2 hours 41 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
819 PM CDT SAT JUL 05 2003

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

0730 PM    ATLANTA                   NE   1 INCH HAIL
07/05/03   PHELPS                         REPORTED BY PUBLIC.
Local storm report, Jul 5, 8:23 PM CDT, 2 hours 37 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
823 PM CDT SAT JUL 05 2003

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

0725 PM    OXFORD                    NE   .75 INCH HAIL
07/05/03   HARLAN                         REPORTED BY PUBLIC.
Special weather statement, Jul 5, 9:40 PM CDT, 1 hour 20 minutes before
NEZ072-082-060315-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
940 PM CDT SAT JUL 5 2003

...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELED FOR THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES...

IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA...
GOSPER AND FURNAS COUNTIES.

SEVERE WEATHER IS NO LONGER A HAZARD TO THOSE COUNTIES.

NNNN

MORITZ
Local storm report, Jul 5, 10:06 PM CDT, 54 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
1006 PM CDT SAT JUL 05 2003

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

1003 PM    (ODX)SHARP FLD ORD        NE   61 MPH TSTM GUST
07/05/03   VALLEY                         ORD ASOS REPORT
Local storm report, Jul 5, 10:06 PM CDT, 54 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED SPEED OF REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
1006 PM CDT SAT JUL 05 2003

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

1003 PM    (ODX)SHARP FLD ORD        NE   63 MPH TSTM GUST
07/05/03   VALLEY                         ORD ASOS REPORT

MORITZ

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 5, 7:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDGosper, Harlan, Phelps51 min
Jul 5, 10:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDValley41 min
Jul 5, 10:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDGreeley63 min
Jul 5, 11:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDPolk64 min
Jul 5, 11:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDYork58 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Nebraska, 2003Every 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.