Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 4, NWS North Platte, NE

May 16, 2004Holt County, Nebraska

NWS North Platte, NE issued this tornado warning at May 16, 2004, 6:04 PM CDT for Holt County, Nebraska. It was in force for 41 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
May 16, 2004, 6:04 PM CDT (23:04 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 2004, 6:45 PM CDT
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS North Platte, NE
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Holt County, NE

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 148 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:03 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 16, 6:53 PM CDTTORNADOInman, NETORNADO ON THE GROUND NEAR INMAN
May 16, 6:53 PM CDTTORNADOInman, NETORNADO ON THE GROUND NEAR INMAN

Local storm reports filed while the alert was in force, from inside its polygon or its counties.

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 16, 4:45 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 194 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°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.

000 
WFUS53 KLBF 162304
TORLBF
NEC089-162345-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
604 PM CDT SUN MAY 16 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTH PLATTE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  HOLT COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA

* UNTIL 645 PM CDT

* AT 558 PM CDT...CHAMBERS FIRE DEPARTEMENT WAS TRACKING A LARGE AND 
EXTREMELY DANGEROUS TORNADO 3 MILES SOUTHWEST OF AMELIA...OR ABOUT 
26 MILES NORTH OF BURWELL...MOVING EAST AT 25   MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  AMELIA AROUND 610 PM CDT
  CHAMBERS AROUND 630 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 SOUTHWESTERN NEBRASKA. A TORNADO WATCH ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT
UNTIL 1000 PM CDT SUNDAY EVENING FOR NORTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA.

LAT...LON 4234 9916 4210 9916 4210 9833 4250 9837

$$

TLK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 3:33 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFCuster57 min
May 16, 4:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFLoup38 min
May 16, 4:44 PM CDTTornado WarningLBFLoup, Rock46 min
May 16, 5:10 PM CDTTornado WarningLBFHolt50 min
May 16, 5:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFBrown, Rock57 min
May 16, 5:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFCuster59 min
May 16, 6:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFLoup, Rock47 min
May 16, 6:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFCuster64 min
May 16, 6:45 PM CDTTornado WarningLBFHolt30 min
May 16, 6:56 PM CDTTornado WarningLBFCuster34 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; local storm reports from the same archive; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.