Alert archive / Nebraska / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2012

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 228

May 3, 20128 counties in Iowa; Atchison County, Holt County, Nodaway County, Missouri; 10 counties in Nebraska

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 3, 2012, 12:50 AM CDT for 8 counties in Iowa; Atchison County, Holt County, Nodaway County, Missouri; 10 counties in Nebraska. It was in force for 4 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 3, 2012, 12:50 AM CDT (05:50 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 2012, 5:00 AM CDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 21 counties

Adams County, IA, Cass County, IA, Fremont County, IA, Mills County, IA, Montgomery County, IA, Page County, IA, Pottawattamie County, IA, Taylor County, IA, Atchison County, MO, Holt County, MO, Nodaway County, MO, Cass County, NE, Douglas County, NE, Gage County, NE, Jefferson County, NE, Johnson County, NE, Nemaha County, NE, Otoe County, NE, Pawnee County, NE, Richardson County, NE, Sarpy County, NE

The radar

The Omaha radar (KOAX), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:50 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
20%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
5%
Ten or more severe wind reports
40%
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
20%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 3, 1:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXCass, Douglas, Sarpy30 min
May 3, 2:11 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXFremont, Mills34 min
May 3, 2:29 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOAXFremont, Page31 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

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 90 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, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 2012-05-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2533 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, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 2012-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 46 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2533 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1223 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
46 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
102 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 2, 10:43 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCHarrison, Monona, Plymouth, Sioux, Woodbury62 min
May 3, 3:05 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Adams, Cass, Clarke, Decatur, Montgomery and 4 more85 min
May 3, 2:12 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBuena Vista, Calhoun, Cerro Gordo, Cherokee, Clay, Dickinson and 18 more2 hr
May 3, 3:41 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Adams, Cass, Clarke, Fremont, Madison and 7 more2 hr
May 3, 6:42 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAppanoose, Davis, Decatur, Des Moines, Henry, Lee and 5 more63 min
May 2, 7:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdams, Antelope, Boone, Buffalo, Burt, Butler and 36 more6 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Nebraska, 2012Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Iowa, 2012Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Missouri, 2012Every severe thunderstorm watch 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.