Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Watches in 2004
Tornado Watch 243
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 21, 2004, 7:40 PM CDT for 8 counties in Kansas; 39 counties in Nebraska; 14 counties in South Dakota. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 21, 2004, 7:40 PM CDT (00:40 UTC)
- Expired
- May 22, 2004, 1:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 61 counties
Cloud County, KS, Jewell County, KS, Mitchell County, KS, Osborne County, KS, Phillips County, KS, Republic County, KS, Rooks County, KS, Smith County, KS, Adams County, NE, Antelope County, NE, Boone County, NE, Boyd County, NE, Buffalo County, NE, Butler County, NE, Cedar County, NE, Clay County, NE, Colfax County, NE, Fillmore County, NE, Franklin County, NE, Garfield County, NE, Greeley County, NE, Hall County, NE, Hamilton County, NE, Harlan County, NE, Holt County, NE, Howard County, NE, Kearney County, NE, Knox County, NE, Loup County, NE, Madison County, NE, Merrick County, NE, Nance County, NE, Nuckolls County, NE, Phelps County, NE, Pierce County, NE, Platte County, NE, Polk County, NE, Rock County, NE, Seward County, NE, Sherman County, NE, Stanton County, NE, Thayer County, NE, Valley County, NE, Wayne County, NE, Webster County, NE, Wheeler County, NE, York County, NE, Aurora County, SD, Bon Homme County, SD, Brule County, SD, Charles Mix County, SD, Clay County, SD, Davison County, SD, Douglas County, SD, Gregory County, SD, Hanson County, SD, Hutchinson County, SD, McCook County, SD, Minnehaha County, SD, Turner County, SD, Yankton County, SD
The radar
The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:43 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
45 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 7:48 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Knox, Pierce | 27 min |
| May 21, 7:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Clay, Union | 40 min |
| May 21, 7:59 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Osborne | 46 min |
| May 21, 8:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Jewell, Mitchell | 58 min |
| May 21, 8:04 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Cedar | 41 min |
| May 21, 8:14 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Pierce | 31 min |
| May 21, 8:33 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Madison, Stanton, Wayne | 42 min |
| May 21, 8:45 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Pierce | 30 min |
| May 21, 8:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Webster | 41 min |
| May 21, 8:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | Republic | 48 min |
| May 21, 8:57 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Loup, Rock | 48 min |
| May 21, 8:59 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Jewell | 46 min |
| May 21, 9:11 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Wayne | 34 min |
| May 21, 9:12 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Clay, Yankton | 33 min |
| May 21, 9:16 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Cedar | 29 min |
| May 21, 9:19 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Clay, Nuckolls | 61 min |
| May 21, 9:22 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FSD | Clay, Yankton | 23 min |
| May 21, 9:43 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Cuming, Stanton, Wayne | 32 min |
| May 21, 9:44 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Garfield | 46 min |
| May 21, 9:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | Republic | 60 min |
| May 21, 9:47 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FSD | Clay, Union | 28 min |
| May 21, 10:15 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Cuming, Wayne | 45 min |
| May 21, 10:18 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Wheeler | 42 min |
| May 21, 10:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Franklin | 49 min |
| May 21, 10:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Turner | 32 min |
| May 21, 10:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Adams | 63 min |
| May 21, 10:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Cedar | 45 min |
| May 21, 10:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Pierce | 41 min |
| May 21, 10:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Wayne | 23 min |
| May 21, 10:53 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Boone | 37 min |
| May 21, 10:54 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Greeley | 66 min |
| May 21, 11:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Wheeler | 29 min |
| May 21, 11:02 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Boone | 28 min |
| May 21, 11:03 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Kearney | 57 min |
| May 21, 11:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Antelope, Madison | 52 min |
| May 21, 11:14 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Wayne | 31 min |
| May 21, 11:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FSD | Lincoln, Minnehaha | 36 min |
| May 21, 11:30 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | OAX | Thurston, Wayne | 6 hr |
| May 21, 11:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Hall | 59 min |
| May 21, 11:35 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Boone, Platte | 40 min |
| May 22, 12:09 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Madison | 36 min |
| May 22, 12:13 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Platte | 47 min |
| May 22, 12:14 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Valley | 46 min |
| May 22, 12:27 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Hall, Merrick | 63 min |
| May 22, 12:47 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Hamilton, York | 58 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
N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 170 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
- 2197 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -41 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1985 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 39 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 99 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 266 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 19.7
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 220039
SEL3
SPC WW 220040
KSZ000-NEZ000-SDZ000-220600-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 243
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
740 PM CDT FRI MAY 21 2004
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS
CENTRAL AND EASTERN NEBRASKA
SOUTHEAST SOUTH DAKOTA
EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING FROM 740 PM UNTIL
100 AM CDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 65 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 10 MILES NORTH OF MITCHELL SOUTH DAKOTA TO 50 MILES
WEST SOUTHWEST OF CONCORDIA KANSAS.
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 235...WW 236...WW 237...WW
238...WW 239...WW 240...WW 241...WW 242...
DISCUSSION...EXTREMELY UNSTABLE AIR MASS ACROSS ERN HALF OF NE INTO
SERN SD. ADDITIONALLY FAVORABLE VEERING SHEAR PROFILES SUPPORT RAPID
DEVELOPMENT OF SUPERCELL STORMS. IN ADDITION TO VERY LARGE HAIL
POTENTIAL...ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE LIKELY. STORMS COULD DEVELOP MOST
ANYWHERE IN THE INSTABILITY AXIS THROUGH THE EVENING.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 600.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24030.
...HALES
435,0964 391,0971 391,0994 435,0991SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 8:40 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clark, Edwards, Ellis, Ford, Gray, Hodgeman and 8 more | 95 min |
| May 21, 10:01 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cloud, Jewell, Mitchell, Osborne, Phillips, Republic and 2 more | 89 min |
| May 22, 1:13 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cheyenne | 2 hr |
| May 22, 2:00 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Cheyenne, Rawlins, Sherman, Thomas | 6 hr |
| May 22, 3:04 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cheyenne | 86 min |
| May 22, 3:52 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barber, Barton, Clark, Clay, Cloud, Comanche and 20 more | 83 min |
| May 22, 5:50 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Barton, Clay, Cloud, Dickinson, Ellsworth, Geary and 13 more | 5 hr |
| May 21, 9:55 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Burt, Cuming, Dakota, Dixon, Dodge, Thurston and 1 more | 4 hr |
| May 22, 12:25 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Antelope, Boone, Buffalo, Burt, Butler and 29 more | 2 hr |
| May 22, 12:55 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Adams, Boone, Buffalo, Burt, Butler, Cass and 31 more | 5 hr |
| May 22, 3:44 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Buffalo, Burt, Butler, Cass, Clay and 20 more | 61 min |
| May 22, 3:02 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Butler, Cass, Clay, Douglas, Fillmore and 22 more | 58 min |
| May 22, 3:45 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adams, Boone, Buffalo, Burt, Butler, Cass and 44 more | 7 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Nebraska, 2004Tornado Watches in South Dakota, 2004Tornado Watches in Kansas, 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.