Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Watches in 2004
Tornado Watch 208
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 16, 2004, 4:45 PM CDT for 35 counties in Nebraska; 6 counties in South Dakota. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 16, 2004, 4:45 PM CDT (21:45 UTC)
- Expired
- May 16, 2004, 10:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 41 counties
Adams County, NE, Antelope County, NE, Boone County, NE, Boyd County, NE, Buffalo County, NE, Butler County, NE, Cedar County, NE, Colfax County, NE, Cuming County, NE, Dakota County, NE, Dixon County, NE, Dodge County, NE, Garfield County, NE, Greeley County, NE, Hall County, NE, Hamilton County, NE, Holt County, NE, Howard County, NE, Kearney County, NE, Knox County, NE, Madison County, NE, Merrick County, NE, Nance County, NE, Pierce County, NE, Platte County, NE, Polk County, NE, Saunders County, NE, Seward County, NE, Sherman County, NE, Stanton County, NE, Thurston County, NE, Valley County, NE, Wayne County, NE, Wheeler County, NE, York County, NE, Bon Homme County, SD, Clay County, SD, Lincoln County, SD, Turner County, SD, Union County, SD, Yankton County, SD
The radar
The Omaha radar (KOAX), 172 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:46 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.
Warnings issued inside it
21 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 16, 4:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Buffalo | 48 min |
| May 16, 5:10 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Holt | 50 min |
| May 16, 5:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Howard | 37 min |
| May 16, 5:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Sherman | 53 min |
| May 16, 5:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Buffalo | 31 min |
| May 16, 5:52 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Buffalo | 23 min |
| May 16, 6:04 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Holt | 41 min |
| May 16, 6:22 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Sherman | 38 min |
| May 16, 6:45 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Holt | 30 min |
| May 16, 6:53 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Howard | 37 min |
| May 16, 6:56 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Sherman | 34 min |
| May 16, 7:13 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Holt | 17 min |
| May 16, 7:20 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Sherman | 40 min |
| May 16, 7:20 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Antelope, Knox | 40 min |
| May 16, 7:22 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Boone | 38 min |
| May 16, 7:24 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Howard | 36 min |
| May 16, 7:37 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Greeley | 38 min |
| May 16, 8:01 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Knox | 44 min |
| May 16, 8:12 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Platte | 33 min |
| May 16, 8:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Madison, Stanton | 35 min |
| May 16, 9:04 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Cuming | 26 min |
Discussions around it
SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.
The nearest sounding before it
Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 172 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1219 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 49 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 59 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
900
WWUS20 KWNS 162144
SEL8
SPC WW 162145
NEZ000-SDZ000-170300-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 208
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
445 PM CDT SUN MAY 16 2004
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST NEBRASKA
SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA
EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 445 PM UNTIL 1000
PM CDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 90 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BURWELL NEBRASKA TO 15
MILES SOUTH OF SIOUX CITY IOWA.
REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.
OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 207...
DISCUSSION...SCATTERED SEVERE STORMS ARE DEVELOPING ACROSS CENTRAL
NEB IN THE VICINITY OF A WSW-ENE ORIENTED SURFACE FRONT AND
RAIN-COOLED BOUNDARY FROM EARLIER PRECIPITATION. THE LOW LEVELS ARE
DESTABILIZING NWD ACROSS ERN NEB IN ADVANCE OF THIS CONVECTION...AND
VERTICAL SHEAR PROFILES APPEAR TO BE QUITE FAVORABLE FOR RIGHT
MOVING SUPERCELLS. THE DEGREE OF LOW-LEVEL SHEAR AND AN INCREASE IN
SURFACE DEWPOINTS INTO THE UPPER 50S SHOULD SUPPORT SUPERCELLS WITH
THE POTENTIAL FOR A COUPLE OF TORNADOES. OTHERWISE...LARGE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS THROUGH THE LATE
EVENING.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.
...THOMPSON
425,0991 432,0962 405,0962 402,0991SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 16, 1:13 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Antelope, Boyd, Brown, Cedar, Dakota, Dixon and 12 more | 2 hr |
| May 16, 3:02 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Chase, Dundy, Frontier, Furnas, Gosper, Hayes and 3 more | 88 min |
| May 16, 3:15 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Arthur, Buffalo, Chase, Custer, Dawson, Dundy and 14 more | 7 hr |
| May 16, 6:04 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Buffalo, Custer, Dawson, Frontier, Furnas, Gosper and 9 more | 86 min |
| May 16, 6:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Adams, Clay, Fillmore, Franklin, Gage, Jefferson and 6 more | 4 hr |
| May 16, 6:55 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Antelope, Boone, Boyd, Buffalo, Butler and 29 more | 2 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Nebraska, 2004Tornado Watches in South Dakota, 2004Every tornado watch 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.