Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Watches in 2011
Tornado Watch 862
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 7, 2011, 6:45 PM CDT for 30 counties in Nebraska. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Oct 7, 2011, 6:45 PM CDT (23:45 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 8, 2011, 2:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 2 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 30 counties
Adams County, NE, Antelope County, NE, Boone County, NE, Buffalo County, NE, Colfax County, NE, Custer County, NE, Dawson County, NE, Franklin County, NE, Frontier County, NE, Furnas County, NE, Gosper County, NE, Greeley County, NE, Hall County, NE, Hamilton County, NE, Harlan County, NE, Howard County, NE, Kearney County, NE, Madison County, NE, Merrick County, NE, Nance County, NE, Phelps County, NE, Pierce County, NE, Platte County, NE, Polk County, NE, Sherman County, NE, Stanton County, NE, Valley County, NE, Wayne County, NE, Wheeler County, NE, York County, NE
The radar
The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 112 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:45 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
- 30%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 20%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 30%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 30%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 30%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 30%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 70%
Warnings issued inside it
11 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 7, 7:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Furnas, Gosper, Harlan, Phelps | 40 min |
| Oct 7, 7:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OAX | Antelope, Knox, Pierce | 50 min |
| Oct 7, 7:33 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Buffalo, Greeley, Hall, Howard, Sherman, Valley | 29 min |
| Oct 7, 7:41 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Buffalo, Kearney, Phelps | 49 min |
| Oct 7, 7:53 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Buffalo, Kearney, Phelps | 37 min |
| Oct 7, 8:43 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Buffalo, Kearney, Phelps | 32 min |
| Oct 7, 9:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Buffalo, Hall, Howard, Sherman | 44 min |
| Oct 7, 11:29 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Furnas, Harlan | 31 min |
| Oct 7, 11:35 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Custer, Lincoln, Logan | 40 min |
| Oct 8, 12:14 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LBF | Custer, Loup | 61 min |
| Oct 8, 12:24 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Adams, Buffalo, Hall, Kearney, Phelps | 36 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, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 154 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
- 2787 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 91 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -4 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 111 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
851
WWUS20 KWNS 072347
SEL2
SPC WW 072347
NEZ000-080500-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 862
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
645 PM CDT FRI OCT 7 2011
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
SOUTH CENTRAL AND EAST CENTRAL NEBRASKA
EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY NIGHT FROM 645 PM UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 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 45 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 35 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF
NORFOLK NEBRASKA TO 55 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF KEARNEY NEBRASKA.
FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH
OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU2).
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 861...
DISCUSSION...TO THE IMMEDIATE EAST OF A NORTHEAST-SOUTHWEST ORIENTED
FRONTAL BOUNDARY...SCATTERED STRONG/SEVERE TSTMS ARE LIKELY TO
CONTINUE TO DEVELOP/QUICKLY MOVE NORTHEASTWARD THIS EVENING ACROSS
PORTIONS OF CENTRAL/EASTERN NEB. WHILE THE BOUNDARY LAYER IS NOT
STRONGLY UNSTABLE...STRENGTHENING DEEP LAYER/LOW LEVEL SHEAR THIS
EVENING WILL SUPPORT EMBEDDED/TRANSIENT SUPERCELLS. A FEW TORNADOES
COULD OCCUR MAINLY THROUGH EARLY/MID EVENING...WITH SEVERE HAIL/WIND
POSSIBLE AS WELL.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23035.
...GUYER/THOMPSONSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 6, 8:29 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Dundy, Hitchcock, Red Willow | 5 hr |
| Oct 6, 8:45 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Arthur, Cherry, Garden, Grant, Hooker, Logan and 2 more | 90 min |
| Oct 6, 11:08 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Frontier, Furnas, Red Willow | 97 min |
| Oct 7, 12:42 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Franklin, Furnas, Harlan, Kearney, Phelps and 1 more | 93 min |
| Oct 7, 2:24 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Adams, Antelope, Boone, Buffalo, Cedar, Clay and 21 more | 96 min |
| Oct 7, 6:33 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Hitchcock, Red Willow | 7 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Nebraska, 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.