Alert archive / Nebraska / Tornado Watches in 2015

Tornado Watch 305

June 16, 201522 counties in Nebraska; 5 counties in South Dakota

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jun 16, 2015, 3:49 PM MDT for 22 counties in Nebraska; 5 counties in South Dakota. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jun 16, 2015, 3:49 PM MDT (21:49 UTC)
Expired
Jun 16, 2015, 11:00 PM MDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2.5 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 27 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, Grant County, NE, Hayes County, NE, Hooker County, NE, Keith County, NE, Keya Paha 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, Bennett County, SD, Jackson County, SD, Mellette County, SD, Todd County, SD, Tripp County, SD

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 75 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:52 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
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
10%
Ten or more severe hail reports
40%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
40%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
80%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 16, 4:10 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFCherry50 min
Jun 16, 5:12 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFCherry48 min
Jun 16, 5:36 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFKeith, Lincoln54 min
Jun 16, 6:06 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFCherry24 min
Jun 16, 6:23 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFLincoln, Perkins52 min
Jun 16, 6:27 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFBlaine, Brown, Cherry, Thomas48 min
Jun 16, 6:28 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFLincoln47 min
Jun 16, 7:01 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFBlaine, Thomas29 min
Jun 16, 7:12 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFLincoln, Perkins63 min
Jun 16, 7:15 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFLincoln45 min
Jun 16, 7:26 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningUNRTodd, Tripp38 min
Jun 16, 8:11 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFGarden49 min
Jun 16, 8:13 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFFrontier, Hayes, Lincoln47 min
Jun 16, 8:58 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFFrontier, Hayes24 min
Jun 16, 8:59 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFDeuel, Garden, Keith46 min
Jun 16, 9:13 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningLBFKeith, Perkins6 hr
Jun 16, 9:25 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFPerkins50 min
Jun 16, 9:43 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFKeith47 min
Jun 16, 10:11 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFChase, Hayes, Lincoln, Perkins49 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, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 147 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 2015-06-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 2015-06-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 55 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1207 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
55 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
120 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

293 
WWUS20 KWNS 162146
SEL5  
SPC WW 162146
NEZ000-SDZ000-170500-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 305
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
450 PM CDT TUE JUN 16 2015

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 
  WESTERN AND CENTRAL NEBRASKA
  SOUTH-CENTRAL SOUTH DAKOTA

* EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY AFTERNOON FROM 450 PM UNTIL MIDNIGHT
  CDT.

* PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE...
  A COUPLE TORNADOES POSSIBLE
  SCATTERED LARGE HAIL AND ISOLATED VERY LARGE HAIL EVENTS TO 2.5
    INCHES IN DIAMETER POSSIBLE
  ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE

SUMMARY...A FEW SUPERCELLS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER THE WATCH
AREA LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO EVENING WITH A RISK FOR A COUPLE OF
TORNADOES AND VERY LARGE HAIL.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 60 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 60 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF
VALENTINE NEBRASKA TO 25 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF IMPERIAL
NEBRASKA.  FOR A COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE
ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU5).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

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 302...WW 303...WW 304...

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
550. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 29020.


...MEAD

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 16, 1:12 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCArthur, Banner, Box Butte, Cheyenne, Dawes, Deuel and 8 more2 hr
Jun 16, 2:02 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBanner, Box Butte, Cheyenne, Dawes, Kimball, Morrill and 2 more7 hr
Jun 16, 4:53 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBanner, Box Butte, Cheyenne, Dawes, Kimball, Morrill and 2 more97 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Nebraska, 2015Tornado Watches in South Dakota, 2015Every tornado watch in 2015

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.