Alert archive / Nebraska / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 232, NWS Hastings, NE
NWS Hastings, NE issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 20, 2003, 7:39 PM CDT for Hall County, Nebraska. It was in force for 51 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
- Jul 20, 2003, 7:39 PM CDT (00:39 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 20, 2003, 8:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 51 min
- Issued by
- NWS Hastings, NE
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Hall County, NE
The radar
The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 65 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:38 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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 4:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 4 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 181 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 4827 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -30 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1616 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 43 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 92 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 162 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.4
- Supercell composite
- 28.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WUUS53 KGID 210039 SVRGID NEC079-210130- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 737 PM CDT SUN JUL 20 2003 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HASTINGS HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... HALL COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA * UNTIL 830 PM CDT * AT 733 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 9 MILES NORTH OF GRAND ISLAND...MOVING SOUTH AT 15 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... GRAND ISLAND AT 800 PM CDT... ALDA AT 815 PM CDT... WOOD RIVER AT 825 PM CDT... DONIPHAN AT 830 PM CDT... PEOPLE IN HALL COUNTY SHOULD SEEK SHELTER IN A STURDY STRUCTURE AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH AND LARGE HAIL THE SIZE OF GOLFBALLS ARE LIKELY. LAT...LON 4103 9830 4103 9872 4071 9871 4072 9829 $$ NNNN EWALD
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 20, 2:00 PM CDT, 5 hours 39 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jul 20, 2:00 PM CDT, 5 hours 39 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 200 PM CDT SUN JUL 20 2003 LOW IN EAST CENTRAL SD WITH FRONT TRAILING SW INTO N CNTRL NE THEN UP THROUGH SWRN SD...WITH SMALL PRE FRONTAL TROUGH JUST OUT AHEAD. NICE LL MINI DRY PUNCH MOVING INTO LL JUICE NEAR CHADRON AREA...WITH FIRST STORM OF DAY ALREADY GOING UP OVR ELEVATED TERRAIN AND WEAKER CAP. ANOTHER LL CONVERGENCE AREA...PROBABLY ASSOCIATED WITH OUTFLOW FROM MORNING STORMS OVR MN AND IA...JUST OVR NERN TO ERN CWA. MID/UPR WAVE AXIS ROUGHLY CUTTING CWA IN HALF FROM NE TO SW. POOR LL SPEED SHEAR...BUT GOOD DIRECTIONAL SHEAR OUT AHEAD...WITH BEST UPR LVL SPEED SHEAR OVR NERN QUAD OF NE. STRONG PREFRONTAL COMPRESSIONAL WARMING AHEAD OF ADVANCING FRONT HAS WARMED TEMPS TO LOW/MID 90S ALREADY...AND WITH 70 DEW PTS OVR ROUGHLY ERN HALF OF NE...HUGE CAPES BETWEEN 4500 AND 5000 IN LOWER LEVELS. ONCE AGAIN A BIT OF A TOUGH FCST. CAPPED OVR OUR CWA RIGHT NOW...WITH MARGINAL LL FORCING NEAR FRONT AND FA SPLIT BETWEEN DECENT UPR DYNAMICS E/NE TO RATHER SLIGHT SW. MOD SOUNDINGS INDICATE MAY BE ABLE TO CONVECT WITHOUT MUCH FORCING...ESPECIALLY NERN CWA. GOING WITH 30 POPS EVERYWHERE FOR TONIGHT...WITH BEST CHC FOR SEVERE ERN PORTION CWA...E OR HWY 281. STRONG DOWNDRAFT WIND POTENTIAL WITH STORMS...MARGINAL HAIL POTENTIAL. IF SFC BASED CONV CAN BREAK THROUGH SOMEWHERE...SOME VERY HEAVY RAIN WITH RELATIVELY SLOW MOVING TSRA...WITH MOTION TO S OR SSE. TOMORROW...ANOTHER INTERESTING DAY OF POSSIBILITIES...WITH GOOD LL FORCING MOVING THROUGH...PUSHED FROM N BY RATHER VIGOROUS SHORTWAVE JUST NOW OVR SWRN MT...DRAGGING MUCH COLDER MID LVL TEMPS OVERHEAD. BETTER HAIL CHANCES MONDAY...AND AGAIN GOING WITH 30 POPS EVERYWHERE FROM MID AFTERNOON ON. BEYOND...WITH STRONG SYSTEM MOVING IN FROM AK GULF...RIDGE CONTINUES TO FLATTEN BY WEEKS END...AND WITH MUCH COOLER OVERHEAD TEMPS MAKING WAY DOWN BACKSIDE OF MID CANADIAN TROUGH...WILL KEEP THINGS QUITE UNSTABLE/ACTIVE OVR WEEKEND IF MDLS CONTINUE TO FOLLOW CURRENT TREND. SO ADDED PERIODS OF LOW CHCS FOR SAT/SUN AND KEPT THU/FRI CHCS. OTHERWISE...ONLY MINOR TWEAKS HERE AND THERE. .GID...NONE. 10
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 20, 3:05 PM CDT, 4 hours 34 minutes before
KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-211200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 305 PM CDT SUN JUL 20 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND PARTS OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT A COLD FRONT WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE SOUTH THROUGH NEBRASKA AND NORTHERN KANSAS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING WITH THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ALONG THE FRONT. IN ADDITION...AN OUTFLOW BOUNDARY GENERATED FROM A LARGE THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX OVER NORTHERN IOWA MAY MOVE SOUTHWEST INTO THE AREA LATER THIS AFTERNOON HELPING TO KICK OFF ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS. THE REGION HAS BECOME QUITE UNSTABLE THIS AFTERNOON DUE TO VERY WARM SURFACE TEMPERATURES ALONG WITH AMPLE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE. WIND SHEAR IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE ALTHOUGH THE BEST SHEAR SHOULD REMAIN NORTHEAST OF THE REGION. OTHER LIMITING FACTORS FOR STORM DEVELOPMENT INCLUDE WARM MID LEVEL TEMPERATURES AND THE BETTER MID LEVEL ENERGY REMAINING NORTHEAST. HOWEVER WITH THE COMBINATION OF THE FRONT AND A VERY UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED OVER CENTRAL NEBRASKA. THE STORMS WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE SOUTHEAST WITH THE GREATEST SEVERE WEATHER THREAT BEING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. THE CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL EXIST FOR ALL OF SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY THE CHANCE FOR THUNDERSTORMS EXISTS EARLY TUESDAY MORNING...AND AGAIN DURING FRIDAY INTO SATURDAY MORNING. THE MAIN HAZARD FROM THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE STRONG WINDS. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS. EWALD
In the hours before
Local storm report, Jul 20, 7:17 PM CDT, 22 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
717 PM CDT SUN JUL 20 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0715 PM OSCEOLA NE 1 INCH HAIL
07/20/03 POLK REPORTED BY COOPERATIVE
OBSERVER.Local storm report, Jul 20, 7:36 PM CDT, 3 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
736 PM CDT SUN JUL 20 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0735 PM 4 N CHAPMAN NE 1.75 INCH HAIL
07/20/03 MERRICK REPORTED BY LAW
ENFORCEMENT OFFICIAL.The office that day
Everything else NWS Hastings, NE issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 20, 7:08 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Howard | 37 min |
| Jul 20, 7:11 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Hamilton, York | 64 min |
| Jul 20, 7:32 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Merrick, Polk | 28 min |
| Jul 20, 8:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Merrick | 29 min |
| Jul 20, 8:14 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Hamilton, York | 61 min |
| Jul 20, 8:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Adams, Hall | 64 min |
| Jul 20, 8:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Clay, Fillmore | 73 min |
| Jul 20, 9:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Adams, Webster | 65 min |
| Jul 20, 10:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Webster | 60 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.