Alert archive / Nebraska / Red Flag Warnings in 2012

Red Flag Warning 31, NWS North Platte, NE

August 8, 201224 counties in Nebraska

NWS North Platte, NE issued this red flag warning at Aug 8, 2012, 1:25 PM MDT for 24 counties in Nebraska. It was in force for 6 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Aug 8, 2012, 1:25 PM MDT (19:25 UTC)
Expired: Aug 8, 2012, 7:23 PM MDT
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: NWS North Platte, NE

All 24 counties

Arthur County, NE, Blaine County, NE, Brown County, NE, Chase County, NE, Cherry County, NE, Custer County, NE, Deuel County, NE, Frontier County, NE, Garden County, NE, Garfield County, NE, Grant County, NE, Hayes County, NE, Holt County, NE, Hooker County, NE, Keith County, NE, Lincoln County, NE, Logan County, NE, Loup County, NE, McPherson County, NE, Perkins County, NE, Rock County, NE, Sheridan County, NE, Thomas County, NE, Wheeler County, NE

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 37 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:31 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.

The nearest sounding before it

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 12:00Z, 7.4 hours before the alert went out and 57 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 695 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -276 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1968 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 101 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 115 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: -0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

686 
WWUS83 KLBF 081925
RFWLBF

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
225 PM CDT WED AUG 8 2012

...CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS THIS AFTERNOON...

.CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS TO REMAIN THROUGH EARLY 
EVENING...WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF WIDESPREAD RED FLAG CONDITIONS 
OVER THE SAND HILLS REGION OF NEBRASKA.

HIGH PRESSURE BUILDING ACROSS THE AREA HAS RESULTED IN SUNNY
SKIES...DOWN SLOPING WINDS AND HIGHS ONCE AGAIN IN THE 90S WITH A
FEW TRIPLE DIGITS IN SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA. DEW POINTS HAVE DROPPED
WELL INTO THE 40S...WITH EVEN A FEW MID 30 READINGS ACROSS MUCH OF
WESTERN NEBRASKA AND PORTIONS OF THE CENTRAL SAND HILLS. THIS HAS
ALLOWED CORRESPONDING MINIMUM RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES TO FALL
WELL BELOW RED FLAG CRITERIA OVER MUCH OF WESTERN NEBRASKA AND THE
SAND HILLS REGION. WINDS ACROSS THE AREA ARE EXPECTED TO REMAIN
AROUND 15 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS AOA 25 MPH.

NEZ204-206-209-210-219-090300-
/O.NEW.KLBF.FW.W.0031.120808T1925Z-120809T0300Z/
EASTERN PANHANDLE/CRESCENT LAKE NWR-
SANDHILLS/VALENTINE NWR/NEBRASKA NATIONAL FOREST/
SAMUEL R MCKELVIE NATIONAL FOREST-LOUP RIVERS BASIN-
FRENCHMAN BASIN-LOESS PLAINS-
225 PM CDT WED AUG 8 2012 /125 PM MDT WED AUG 8 2012/

...RED FLAG WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CDT /9 PM MDT/ THIS
EVENING FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR FIRE ZONES 204...
206...209...210 AND 219...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTH PLATTE HAS ISSUED A RED
FLAG WARNING FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...WHICH IS IN
EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CDT /9 PM MDT/ THIS EVENING.

* AFFECTED AREA...IN NEBRASKA...FIRE WEATHER ZONE 204 EASTERN 
  PANHANDLE/CRESCENT LAKE NWR...FIRE WEATHER ZONE 206 
  SANDHILLS/VALENTINE NWR/NEBRASKA NATIONAL FOREST/ SAMUEL R 
  MCKELVIE NATIONAL FOREST...FIRE WEATHER ZONE 209 LOUP RIVERS 
  BASIN...FIRE WEATHER ZONE 210 FRENCHMAN BASIN AND FIRE WEATHER 
  ZONE 219 LOESS PLAINS.

* WINDS...NORTH 10 TO 20 MPH WITH GUSTS UP TO 30 MPH.

* RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AS LOW AS 13 PERCENT.

* IMPACTS...THE COMBINATION OF DRY FUELS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY
  AND GUSTY WINDS WILL PROMOTE THE POSSIBILITY OF EXTREME FIRE
  GROWTH THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING. UNDER THESE CONDITIONS...FIRE
  COULD EASILY ESCAPE CONTROL.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A RED FLAG WARNING MEANS THAT CRITICAL FIRE WEATHER CONDITIONS
ARE EITHER OCCURRING NOW...OR WILL SHORTLY. A COMBINATION OF
STRONG WINDS...LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY...AND WARM TEMPERATURES WILL
CREATE EXPLOSIVE FIRE GROWTH POTENTIAL.

&&

$$

HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LBF

1 follow-up statement

681 
WWUS83 KLBF 090123
RFWLBF

URGENT - FIRE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORTH PLATTE NE
823 PM CDT WED AUG 8 2012

...RED FLAG WARNING CANCELLED...

.AS TEMPERATURES COOL THIS EVENING RELATIVE HUMIDITY VALUES WILL
RECOVER QUICKLY TO VALUES GREATER THAN CRITICAL THRESHOLDS. WINDS HAVE
ALSO DECREASED ACROSS THE AREA AND WILL CONTINUE TO DECREASE FURTHER.

NEZ204-206-209-210-219-090230-
/O.CAN.KLBF.FW.W.0031.000000T0000Z-120809T0300Z/
EASTERN PANHANDLE/CRESCENT LAKE NWR-
SANDHILLS/VALENTINE NWR/NEBRASKA NATIONAL FOREST/
SAMUEL R MCKELVIE NATIONAL FOREST-LOUP RIVERS BASIN-
FRENCHMAN BASIN-LOESS PLAINS-
823 PM CDT WED AUG 8 2012 /723 PM MDT WED AUG 8 2012/

...RED FLAG WARNING IS CANCELLED FOR WIND AND LOW RELATIVE HUMIDITY FOR
FIRE ZONES 204...206...209...210 AND 219...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORTH PLATTE HAS CANCELLED THE
RED FLAG WARNING.

WINDS WILL CONTINUE TO DECREASE THIS EVENING AS RELATIVE HUMIDITY
VALUES INCREASE ABOVE CRITICAL LEVELS.

$$

HTTP://WEATHER.GOV/LBF

Nearby

Red Flag Warnings in Nebraska, 2012 Every red flag warning in 2012

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.