Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Watches in 2011
Tornado Watch 523
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jun 20, 2011, 1:00 PM CDT for 11 counties in Kansas; 40 counties in Nebraska. It was in force for 10 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Jun 20, 2011, 1:00 PM CDT (18:00 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 20, 2011, 10:33 PM CDT
- In force
- 10 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Particularly dangerous situation
- Yes
- Largest hail expected
- 4 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 70 kt
All 51 counties
Decatur County, KS, Gove County, KS, Graham County, KS, Jewell County, KS, Mitchell County, KS, Norton County, KS, Osborne County, KS, Phillips County, KS, Rooks County, KS, Sheridan County, KS, Smith County, KS, Adams County, NE, Antelope County, NE, Boone County, NE, Buffalo County, NE, Butler County, NE, Clay County, NE, Colfax County, NE, Cuming County, NE, Custer County, NE, Dawson County, NE, Fillmore County, NE, Franklin County, NE, Furnas County, NE, Garfield County, NE, Gosper County, NE, Greeley County, NE, Hall County, NE, Hamilton County, NE, Harlan County, NE, Holt County, NE, Howard County, NE, Kearney 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, Red Willow 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
The radar
The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 109 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:56 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
- 90%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 60%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 80%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 60%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 95%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 95%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 95%
Warnings issued inside it
55 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 20, 1:26 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GLD | Decatur, Graham, Norton, Sheridan | 64 min |
| Jun 20, 2:03 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GLD | Graham, Norton | 27 min |
| Jun 20, 2:20 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Phillips | 40 min |
| Jun 20, 2:26 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GLD | Norton | 34 min |
| Jun 20, 2:57 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Phillips | 33 min |
| Jun 20, 2:57 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GLD | Norton | 18 min |
| Jun 20, 3:02 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | GLD | Gove, Sheridan, Thomas | 6 hr |
| Jun 20, 3:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Dawson, Gosper, Phelps | 52 min |
| Jun 20, 3:29 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Furnas, Harlan, Phelps | 19 min |
| Jun 20, 3:29 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Buffalo, Dawson, Gosper, Phelps | 31 min |
| Jun 20, 3:58 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Buffalo, Dawson, Gosper, Phelps | 47 min |
| Jun 20, 4:03 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Buffalo, Sherman | 42 min |
| Jun 20, 4:21 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Gove, Logan, Sheridan, Thomas | 35 min |
| Jun 20, 4:33 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Buffalo, Sherman | 42 min |
| Jun 20, 4:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Clay, Fillmore, Hall, Hamilton, Howard, Merrick and 1 more | 31 min |
| Jun 20, 4:46 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Buffalo, Sherman | 44 min |
| Jun 20, 5:02 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GLD | Sheridan | 17 min |
| Jun 20, 5:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Clay, Fillmore, Greeley, Hall, Hamilton, Howard and 4 more | 55 min |
| Jun 20, 5:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Sherman, Valley | 52 min |
| Jun 20, 5:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Decatur, Sheridan | 42 min |
| Jun 20, 5:18 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Hamilton, York | 27 min |
| Jun 20, 5:25 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Greeley, Howard, Sherman, Valley | 50 min |
| Jun 20, 5:27 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GLD | Sheridan | 63 min |
| Jun 20, 5:39 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Hamilton, Merrick, Polk, York | 36 min |
| Jun 20, 5:44 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Polk, York | 31 min |
| Jun 20, 5:53 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Greeley, Hamilton, Howard, Merrick, Nance, Polk and 3 more | 52 min |
| Jun 20, 5:57 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GLD | Decatur, Graham, Norton, Sheridan | 1 min |
| Jun 20, 6:00 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GLD | Decatur | 60 min |
| Jun 20, 6:00 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Hamilton, Merrick, Polk, York | 45 min |
| Jun 20, 6:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Red Willow | 65 min |
| Jun 20, 6:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Garfield, Wheeler | 21 min |
| Jun 20, 6:22 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Platte | 38 min |
| Jun 20, 6:25 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GLD | Decatur, Norton | 65 min |
| Jun 20, 6:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Antelope | 48 min |
| Jun 20, 6:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Furnas | 44 min |
| Jun 20, 6:43 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Merrick, Nance, Polk | 17 min |
| Jun 20, 6:49 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GLD | Decatur, Sheridan | 56 min |
| Jun 20, 6:51 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | GLD | Decatur, Rawlins, Sheridan, Thomas | 6 hr |
| Jun 20, 6:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Madison, Platte | 63 min |
| Jun 20, 7:10 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GLD | Decatur | 65 min |
| Jun 20, 7:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Furnas | 49 min |
| Jun 20, 7:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Antelope, Knox | 32 min |
| Jun 20, 7:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Fillmore, York | 28 min |
| Jun 20, 7:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Cedar, Knox, Madison, Pierce, Wayne | 48 min |
| Jun 20, 7:29 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | OAX | Madison, Platte | 31 min |
| Jun 20, 7:36 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GLD | Decatur, Sheridan | 14 min |
| Jun 20, 7:36 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Polk, York | 39 min |
| Jun 20, 7:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Cedar, Knox, Wayne | 40 min |
| Jun 20, 8:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Burt, Cuming, Dodge, Saunders, Thurston, Washington | 44 min |
| Jun 20, 8:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Furnas | 34 min |
| Jun 20, 8:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Red Willow | 21 min |
| Jun 20, 8:16 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | OAX | Madison, Platte, Stanton | 3 hr |
| Jun 20, 8:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Cedar, Thurston, Wayne | 33 min |
| Jun 20, 8:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Burt, Cuming, Thurston, Washington | 38 min |
| Jun 20, 9:12 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | OAX | Burt, Cuming, Thurston | 2 hr |
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, 6.0 hours before the alert went out and 153 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
- 163 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -253 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 570 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 51 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 159 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 34 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
295
WWUS20 KWNS 201801
SEL3
SPC WW 201801
KSZ000-NEZ000-210100-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 523
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
100 PM CDT MON JUN 20 2011
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
PARTS OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS
LARGE PART OF EASTERN NEBRASKA
EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 100 PM UNTIL 800
PM CDT.
...THIS IS A PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS SITUATION...
DESTRUCTIVE TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL TO 4 INCHES IN DIAMETER...
THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE
POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 65 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 50 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF
ONEILL NEBRASKA TO 25 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF HILL CITY KANSAS.
FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH
OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU3).
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 522...
DISCUSSION...INTENSE SURFACE LOW OVER NCENTRAL KS WITH RAPID
DESTABILIZATION OCCURRING INTO NEB WHERE SHEAR IS VERY FAVORABLE
FOR SUPERCELL DEVELOPMENT. SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS WELL DEVELOP
AHEAD OF THE TRACK OF THE LOW WITH POTENTIAL FOR STRONG TORNADOES
INCREASING THRU THE AFTERNOON AS SYSTEM MOVES NNE. VERY LARGE HAIL
ALSO LIKELY GIVEN MLCAPES AOA 2500 J/KG AND LARGE HODOGRAPHS.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 4 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
550. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 22030.
...HALESSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 20, 8:05 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cheyenne, Decatur, Finney, Gove, Graham, Grant and 15 more | 55 min |
| Jun 20, 8:38 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Decatur, Ellis, Finney, Gove, Graham, Grant and 25 more | 6 hr |
| Jun 20, 10:42 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Allen, Anderson, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Coffey and 18 more | 63 min |
| Jun 20, 12:22 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Decatur, Gove, Graham, Logan, Norton, Phillips and 6 more | 83 min |
| Jun 20, 1:34 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Butler, Chase, Clay, Cowley, Dickinson, Ellsworth and 15 more | 116 min |
| Jun 20, 2:19 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Norton, Phillips, Smith | 86 min |
| Jun 20, 2:52 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Decatur, Rawlins, Thomas | 53 min |
| Jun 20, 3:08 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Atchison, Brown, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Clay and 34 more | 7 hr |
| Jun 20, 3:59 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Jewell | 61 min |
| Jun 20, 6:17 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Brown, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Clay, Coffey and 28 more | 58 min |
| Jun 19, 8:24 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Blaine, Boone, Buffalo, Chase, Clay and 35 more | 96 min |
| Jun 19, 9:16 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Burt, Cass, Dodge, Douglas, Lancaster, Nemaha and 4 more | 59 min |
| Jun 19, 9:49 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adams, Antelope, Boone, Buffalo, Burt, Butler and 46 more | 6 hr |
| Jun 20, 12:45 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Chase, Dundy, Frontier, Hayes, Hitchcock, Red Willow | 2 hr |
| Jun 20, 3:27 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Burt, Butler, Cass, Colfax, Cuming, Dodge and 11 more | 33 min |
| Jun 20, 3:46 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Burt, Butler, Cass, Colfax, Cuming, Dodge and 10 more | 5 hr |
| Jun 20, 6:53 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Antelope, Boone, Boyd, Burt, Butler, Cass and 29 more | 6 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Nebraska, 2011Tornado Watches in Kansas, 2011Every tornado watch in 2011
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.