Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Watches in 2004
Tornado Watch 249
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 22, 2004, 1:00 PM MDT for 8 counties in Colorado; 4 counties in Kansas; 18 counties in Nebraska. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 22, 2004, 1:00 PM MDT (19:00 UTC)
- Expired
- May 22, 2004, 7:00 PM MDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 30 counties
Elbert County, CO, Kit Carson County, CO, Logan County, CO, Morgan County, CO, Phillips County, CO, Sedgwick County, CO, Washington County, CO, Yuma County, CO, Cheyenne County, KS, Rawlins County, KS, Sherman County, KS, Thomas County, KS, Arthur County, NE, Banner County, NE, Chase County, NE, Cheyenne County, NE, Deuel County, NE, Dundy County, NE, Garden County, NE, Hayes County, NE, Hitchcock County, NE, Keith County, NE, Kimball County, NE, Lincoln County, NE, Logan County, NE, McPherson County, NE, Morrill County, NE, Perkins County, NE, Scotts Bluff County, NE, Thomas County, NE
The radar
The Goodland radar (KGLD), 127 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:04 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
27 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 22, 1:43 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Garden | 62 min |
| May 22, 2:14 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Arthur, Grant | 46 min |
| May 22, 2:17 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CYS | Cheyenne, Morrill | 43 min |
| May 22, 2:40 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Rawlins | 65 min |
| May 22, 2:43 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Logan, Washington | 62 min |
| May 22, 2:44 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Hitchcock | 61 min |
| May 22, 2:49 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Cheyenne | 56 min |
| May 22, 2:53 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Logan, Washington | 52 min |
| May 22, 2:57 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Keith, Perkins | 63 min |
| May 22, 2:58 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Hayes | 62 min |
| May 22, 3:09 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CYS | Cheyenne | 36 min |
| May 22, 3:10 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Arthur, McPherson | 65 min |
| May 22, 3:28 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Lincoln | 62 min |
| May 22, 3:44 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Phillips, Sedgwick | 31 min |
| May 22, 3:45 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | McPherson | 45 min |
| May 22, 3:46 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Cheyenne | 44 min |
| May 22, 3:48 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Hooker, Thomas | 42 min |
| May 22, 4:02 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Dundy | 58 min |
| May 22, 4:11 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Lincoln | 64 min |
| May 22, 4:14 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Dundy | 61 min |
| May 22, 4:26 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Logan | 49 min |
| May 22, 4:43 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Thomas | 32 min |
| May 22, 4:55 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Chase, Hayes | 65 min |
| May 22, 5:16 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Logan | 29 min |
| May 22, 5:18 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Lincoln | 57 min |
| May 22, 6:14 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Lincoln | 16 min |
| May 22, 6:27 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | LBF | Lincoln | 33 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
Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 55 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
- 2107 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 58 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 30 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 174 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 221900
SEL9
SPC WW 221900
COZ000-KSZ000-NEZ000-WYZ000-230100-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 249
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
100 PM MDT SAT MAY 22 2004
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
NORTHEAST COLORADO
NORTHWEST KANSAS
SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA
EXTREME SOUTHEAST WYOMING
EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 100 PM UNTIL
700 PM MDT.
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 95 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 55 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF GOODLAND KANSAS TO 75
MILES NORTHEAST OF SIDNEY NEBRASKA.
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 247...WW 248...
DISCUSSION...SCATTERED SEVERE STORMS ARE FORECAST TO DEVELOP ACROSS
NORTHEAST CO/SOUTHEAST WY DURING THE NEXT 1-2 HOURS AND SPREAD
EASTWARD INTO PARTS OF KS/NEB. EASTERLY LOW LEVEL WINDS ARE
RESULTING IN STRONG MOISTURE ADVECTION AND FAVORABLE VERTICAL SHEAR
FOR SUPERCELLS. VERY LARGE HAIL APPEARS TO BE THE PRIMARY THREAT.
HOWEVER...POTENTIAL FOR ISOLATED TORNADOES ALSO EXISTS IMMEDIATELY
NORTH OF SURFACE LOW OVER WESTERN KS/NEB LATER THIS
AFTERNOON/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 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 26035.
...HART
390,1042 415,1034 415,1000 390,1005SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 22, 12:13 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Arapahoe, Kit Carson, Logan, Morgan, Phillips and 4 more | 2 hr |
| May 22, 2:04 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Arapahoe, Kit Carson, Logan, Morgan, Phillips and 4 more | 86 min |
| May 21, 6:40 PM MDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Cloud, Jewell, Mitchell, Osborne, Phillips, Republic and 2 more | 5 hr |
| May 21, 7:40 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clark, Edwards, Ellis, Ford, Gray, Hodgeman and 8 more | 95 min |
| May 21, 9:01 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cloud, Jewell, Mitchell, Osborne, Phillips, Republic and 2 more | 89 min |
| May 22, 2:52 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barber, Barton, Clark, Clay, Cloud, Comanche and 20 more | 83 min |
| May 22, 4:50 PM MDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Barton, Clay, Cloud, Dickinson, Ellsworth, Geary and 13 more | 5 hr |
| May 21, 8:55 PM MDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Burt, Cuming, Dakota, Dixon, Dodge, Thurston and 1 more | 4 hr |
| May 21, 11:25 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Antelope, Boone, Buffalo, Burt, Butler and 29 more | 2 hr |
| May 21, 11:55 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Adams, Boone, Buffalo, Burt, Butler, Cass and 31 more | 5 hr |
| May 22, 2:44 AM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Buffalo, Burt, Butler, Cass, Clay and 20 more | 61 min |
| May 22, 2:02 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Butler, Cass, Clay, Douglas, Fillmore and 22 more | 58 min |
| May 22, 2:45 PM MDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adams, Boone, Buffalo, Burt, Butler, Cass and 44 more | 7 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Nebraska, 2004Tornado Watches in Colorado, 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.