Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Watches in 2008

Tornado Watch 384

May 29, 20084 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 29, 2008, 12:33 PM MDT for 4 states. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 29, 2008, 12:33 PM MDT (18:33 UTC)
Expired
May 29, 2008, 8:00 PM MDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 31 counties

Logan County, CO, Phillips County, CO, Sedgwick County, CO, Washington County, CO, Yuma County, CO, Cheyenne County, KS, Arthur County, NE, Banner County, NE, Box Butte County, NE, Chase County, NE, Cherry County, NE, Cheyenne County, NE, Dawes County, NE, Deuel County, NE, Dundy County, NE, Garden County, NE, Grant County, NE, Hooker County, NE, Keith County, NE, Kimball County, NE, McPherson County, NE, Morrill County, NE, Perkins County, NE, Scotts Bluff County, NE, Sheridan County, NE, Sioux County, NE, Bennett County, SD, Fall River County, SD, Jackson County, SD, Mellette County, SD, Todd County, SD

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 178 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:36 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
40%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
60%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

9 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 29, 1:19 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDCheyenne, Rawlins56 min
May 29, 3:08 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFSheridan52 min
May 29, 3:12 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCYSBox Butte33 min
May 29, 3:48 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFSheridan42 min
May 29, 4:13 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFCherry, Sheridan32 min
May 29, 4:15 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningUNRFall River60 min
May 29, 4:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFCherry45 min
May 29, 5:06 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningUNRBennett, Jackson54 min
May 29, 5:57 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningUNRBennett, Jackson, Mellette, Todd51 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 12:00Z, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 160 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 2008-05-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 791 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 2008-05-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 181 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
791 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-191 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
751 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
181 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
135 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000
WWUS20 KWNS 291834
SEL4  
SPC WW 291834
COZ000-KSZ000-NEZ000-SDZ000-300200-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 384
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
135 PM CDT THU MAY 29 2008

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 

       PARTS OF NORTHEAST COLORADO
       SMALL PART OF NORTHWEST KANSAS
       MUCH OF WESTERN NEBRASKA INCLUDING THE PANHANDLE
       PARTS OF SOUTHWESTERN SOUTH DAKOTA

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 135 PM UNTIL
900 PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2.5 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 75 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 55 MILES SOUTHEAST OF AKRON
COLORADO TO 90 MILES NORTHEAST OF CHADRON NEBRASKA.  FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU4).

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...THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCREASE IN NUMBER AND INTENSITY
ACROSS WATCH AREA AS LITTLE REMAINING CINH.  STRONG DEEP LAYER
SHEAR...STEEP LAPSE RATES AND MLCAPE TO 1000 J/KG SUPPORT SUPERCELL
DEVELOPMENT.  PRIMARY THREAT WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DOWNBURSTS WINDS
BUT TORNADOES WILL BE POSSIBLE FROM ANY SUPERCELL.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2.5 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.


...HALES

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 29, 11:24 AM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCLogan, Weld96 min
May 29, 12:10 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaca, Prowers65 min
May 29, 1:12 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBaca, Bent, Cheyenne, Kiowa, Kit Carson, Las Animas and 2 more10 hr
May 29, 5:49 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaca, Prowers56 min
May 29, 12:44 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDecatur, Norton, Phillips, Rawlins, Sheridan61 min
May 29, 1:30 PM MDTTornado Watch PDSSPCCloud, Decatur, Ellis, Ellsworth, Gove, Graham and 14 more8 hr
May 29, 4:55 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrown, Clay, Cloud, Decatur, Dickinson, Ellis and 29 more35 min
May 29, 5:43 PM MDTTornado WatchSPCBrown, Clay, Jackson, Marshall, Nemaha, Pottawatomie and 2 more7 hr
May 28, 10:41 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAntelope, Arthur, Blaine, Boyd, Brown, Cedar and 15 more94 min
May 29, 4:32 AM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAntelope, Boone, Burt, Butler, Cass, Cedar and 29 more118 min
May 29, 2:55 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAntelope, Blaine, Boyd, Brown, Cherry, Garfield and 10 more95 min
May 29, 4:07 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDakota, Dixon23 min
May 29, 4:26 PM MDTTornado WatchSPCDakota, Dixon6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Nebraska, 2008Tornado Watches in South Dakota, 2008Tornado Watches in Colorado, 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.