Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Watches in 2008
Tornado Watch 340
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 23, 2008, 12:41 PM MDT for 7 counties in Colorado; 8 counties in Nebraska; 6 counties in Wyoming. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 23, 2008, 12:41 PM MDT (18:41 UTC)
- Expired
- May 23, 2008, 6:15 PM MDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 3 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 21 counties
Larimer County, CO, Logan County, CO, Morgan County, CO, Phillips County, CO, Sedgwick County, CO, Washington County, CO, Weld County, CO, Banner County, NE, Box Butte County, NE, Cheyenne County, NE, Dawes County, NE, Kimball County, NE, Morrill County, NE, Scotts Bluff County, NE, Sioux County, NE, Albany County, WY, Converse County, WY, Goshen County, WY, Laramie County, WY, Niobrara County, WY, Platte County, WY
The radar
The Cheyenne radar (KCYS), 97 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:44 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 SPC expected
The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.
- Two or more tornadoes
- 40%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 20%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 50%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 30%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 70%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 50%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 90%
Warnings issued inside it
26 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 23, 1:28 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CYS | Laramie | 47 min |
| May 23, 2:00 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | CYS | Laramie | 45 min |
| May 23, 2:34 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CYS | Laramie | 26 min |
| May 23, 2:39 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CYS | Laramie | 37 min |
| May 23, 3:14 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | CYS | Laramie | 28 min |
| May 23, 3:22 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CYS | Platte | 53 min |
| May 23, 3:35 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Weld | 25 min |
| May 23, 3:40 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | CYS | Laramie, Platte | 50 min |
| May 23, 3:49 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Morgan | 41 min |
| May 23, 3:54 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Weld | 21 min |
| May 23, 4:01 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Larimer | 42 min |
| May 23, 4:05 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | CYS | Platte | 25 min |
| May 23, 4:22 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Weld | 38 min |
| May 23, 4:23 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | CYS | Laramie | 52 min |
| May 23, 4:25 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CYS | Platte | 65 min |
| May 23, 4:30 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CYS | Platte | 45 min |
| May 23, 4:31 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | BOU | Morgan | 44 min |
| May 23, 5:07 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CYS | Niobrara | 53 min |
| May 23, 5:21 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | CYS | Platte | 24 min |
| May 23, 5:40 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | CYS | Goshen | 19 min |
| May 23, 5:45 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CYS | Platte | 13 min |
| May 23, 5:47 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BOU | Weld | 16 min |
| May 23, 5:53 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | CYS | Platte | 13 min |
| May 23, 6:02 PM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CYS | Niobrara | 58 min |
| May 23, 6:07 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | CYS | Goshen | 26 min |
| May 23, 6:10 PM MDT | Tornado Warning | CYS | Kimball | 28 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, 6.7 hours before the alert went out and 274 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
- 974 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 87 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 96 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 149 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 231839
SEL0
SPC WW 231839
COZ000-NEZ000-WYZ000-240100-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 340
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1240 PM MDT FRI MAY 23 2008
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
PARTS OF NORTHEAST COLORADO
MUCH OF NEBRASKA PANHANDLE
PARTS OF EASTERN WYOMING
EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 1240 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 APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 85 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 45 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF
DOUGLAS WYOMING TO 25 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF AKRON COLORADO.
FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH
OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU0).
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.
DISCUSSION...VERY STRONG VEERING SHEAR PROFILES E OF HIGHER TERRAIN
IN SERN WY/NERN CO WITH INCREASINGLY MOIST SELY FLOW. WITH LITTLE
REMAINING CINH...THUNDERSTORMS EXPECTED TO INCREASE RAPIDLY IN
NUMBER/INTENSITY. SUPERCELLS WILL DEVELOP WITH ASSOCIATED VERY
LARGE HAIL AND POSSIBLE TORNADOES AS THEY MOVE QUICKLY N ACROSS
WATCH AREA.
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 18040.
...HALESSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 23, 8:53 AM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Logan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Yuma | 67 min |
| May 23, 12:13 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Larimer, Morgan, Weld | 92 min |
| May 23, 1:15 PM MDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Kit Carson, Yuma | 7 hr |
| May 23, 5:02 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Broomfield, Denver, Larimer, Logan, Morgan and 5 more | 58 min |
| May 23, 5:18 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Kit Carson, Yuma | 57 min |
| May 23, 5:37 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Logan, Morgan, Phillips, Sedgwick, Washington, Weld and 1 more | 23 min |
| May 22, 7:16 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Buffalo, Chase, Clay, Dawson, Deuel and 25 more | 29 min |
| May 22, 8:11 PM MDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adams, Buffalo, Clay, Dawson, Fillmore, Franklin and 11 more | 8 hr |
| May 22, 8:24 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Arthur, Banner, Blaine, Box Butte, Brown, Cherry and 15 more | 66 min |
| May 22, 9:34 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Boone, Butler, Cass, Colfax, Dodge, Douglas and 16 more | 56 min |
| May 22, 10:43 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Buffalo, Clay, Dawson, Fillmore, Franklin and 14 more | 62 min |
| May 23, 1:01 AM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Jefferson, Nuckolls, Saline, Thayer | 89 min |
| May 23, 4:26 PM MDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Boone, Buffalo, Butler, Clay, Colfax and 23 more | 64 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Nebraska, 2008Tornado Watches in Colorado, 2008Tornado Watches in Wyoming, 2008Every tornado watch in 2008
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.