Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Hastings, NE

May 16, 2004Buffalo County, Nebraska

NWS Hastings, NE issued this tornado warning at May 16, 2004, 5:52 PM CDT for Buffalo County, Nebraska. It was in force for 23 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
May 16, 2004, 5:52 PM CDT (22:52 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 2004, 6:15 PM CDT
In force
23 min
Issued by
NWS Hastings, NE
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Buffalo County, NE

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 108 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:54 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.

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 16, 3:15 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC7 hr
May 16, 4:45 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 106 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, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 12:00Z on 2004-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 12:00Z on 2004-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 287 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
980 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
287 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
312 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

010 
WFUS53 KGID 162252
TORGID
NEC019-162315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
552 PM CDT SUN MAY 16 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HASTINGS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  BUFFALO COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA

* UNTIL 615 PM CDT

* AT 549 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO.  THIS TORNADO
  WAS LOCATED NEAR MILLER...OR ABOUT 23 MILES NORTHWEST OF KEARNEY...
  AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  RURAL NORTHERN BUFFALO COUNTY AROUND 610 PM CDT...

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM CDT SUNDAY EVENING
FOR NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS AND SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA. A TORNADO WATCH
ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM CDT SUNDAY EVENING FOR
SOUTHEASTERN NEBRASKA.

LAT...LON 4096 9954 4083 9937 4106 9904 4121 9924

$$
10

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 3:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDGosper53 min
May 16, 3:49 PM CDTTornado WarningGIDGosper26 min
May 16, 4:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDDawson61 min
May 16, 4:17 PM CDTTornado WarningGIDGosper13 min
May 16, 4:47 PM CDTTornado WarningGIDDawson28 min
May 16, 4:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDBuffalo48 min
May 16, 5:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDDawson45 min
May 16, 5:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDHoward37 min
May 16, 5:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDSherman53 min
May 16, 5:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDBuffalo31 min
May 16, 6:22 PM CDTTornado WarningGIDSherman38 min
May 16, 6:53 PM CDTTornado WarningGIDHoward37 min
May 16, 6:56 PM CDTTornado WarningGIDSherman34 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Nebraska, 2004Every tornado warning in 2004Tornadoes in 2004

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.