Alert archive / Nebraska / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2017

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 225

May 16, 2017Yuma County, Colorado; Cheyenne County, Decatur County, Rawlins County, Kansas; 29 counties in Nebraska

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 16, 2017, 6:03 PM MDT for Yuma County, Colorado; Cheyenne County, Decatur County, Rawlins County, Kansas; 29 counties in Nebraska. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 16, 2017, 6:03 PM MDT (00:03 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 2017, 11:00 PM MDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 33 counties

Yuma County, CO, Cheyenne County, KS, Decatur County, KS, Rawlins County, KS, Arthur County, NE, Blaine County, NE, Buffalo County, NE, Chase County, NE, Custer County, NE, Dawson County, NE, Dundy County, NE, Frontier County, NE, Furnas County, NE, Garfield County, NE, Gosper County, NE, Grant County, NE, Greeley County, NE, Hayes County, NE, Hitchcock County, NE, Hooker County, NE, Howard County, NE, Keith County, NE, Lincoln County, NE, Logan County, NE, Loup County, NE, McPherson County, NE, Perkins County, NE, Phelps County, NE, Red Willow County, NE, Sherman County, NE, Thomas County, NE, Valley County, NE, Wheeler County, NE

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 104 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:02 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
10%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
5%
Ten or more severe wind reports
20%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
10%
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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 6:03 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDBuffalo, Kearney, Phelps42 min
May 16, 6:05 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDRawlins40 min
May 16, 6:28 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDKit Carson, Yuma28 min
May 16, 6:32 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDHall, Hamilton, Howard, Merrick29 min
May 16, 6:42 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDRawlins48 min
May 16, 6:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFLincoln, Perkins45 min
May 16, 7:27 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDCheyenne33 min
May 16, 7:53 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDCheyenne, Rawlins28 min
May 16, 8:54 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDRawlins, Thomas36 min
May 16, 9:04 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningGLDDecatur, Rawlins3 hr
May 16, 10:22 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDFurnas, Gosper, Harlan, Phelps38 min
May 16, 10:58 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDFranklin, Harlan, Kearney, Phelps47 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 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 17 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 00:00Z on 2017-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 256 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, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 2017-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 30 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
256 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-63 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2322 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
60 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
118 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 8:43 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCPhillips, Yuma62 min
May 16, 6:31 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrown, Clay, Cloud, Dickinson, Ellis, Ellsworth and 24 more59 min
May 16, 8:53 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCowley, Harper, Sumner37 min
May 16, 9:07 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBarber, Cowley, Harper, Sumner6 hr
May 16, 9:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBarton, Butler, Chase, Comanche, Dickinson, Edwards and 17 more5 hr
May 17, 12:49 AM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCButler, Chase, Chautauqua, Cowley, Elk, Geary and 4 more56 min
May 17, 10:39 AM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtchison, Brown, Doniphan, Nemaha66 min
May 17, 11:08 AM MDTTornado WatchSPCAtchison, Brown, Cloud, Doniphan, Douglas, Jackson and 10 more7 hr
May 17, 1:25 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtchison, Brown, Doniphan, Geary, Jackson, Jefferson and 7 more65 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Nebraska, 2017Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Kansas, 2017Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Colorado, 2017Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2017

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.