Alert archive / Nebraska / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2021

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 199

May 23, 202113 counties in Kansas; 22 counties in Nebraska; Mellette County, Todd County, Tripp County, South Dakota

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 23, 2021, 8:12 PM CDT for 13 counties in Kansas; 22 counties in Nebraska; Mellette County, Todd County, Tripp County, South Dakota. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 23, 2021, 8:12 PM CDT (01:12 UTC)
Expired
May 24, 2021, 1:00 AM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 38 counties

Cheyenne County, KS, Decatur County, KS, Gove County, KS, Graham County, KS, Greeley County, KS, Logan County, KS, Norton County, KS, Rawlins County, KS, Sheridan County, KS, Sherman County, KS, Thomas County, KS, Wallace County, KS, Wichita County, KS, Blaine County, NE, Brown County, NE, Chase County, NE, Cherry County, NE, Custer County, NE, Dawson County, NE, Dundy County, NE, Frontier County, NE, Furnas County, NE, Gosper County, NE, Hayes County, NE, Hitchcock County, NE, Hooker County, NE, Keya Paha County, NE, Lincoln County, NE, Logan County, NE, Loup County, NE, McPherson County, NE, Perkins County, NE, Red Willow County, NE, Rock County, NE, Thomas County, NE, Mellette County, SD, Todd County, SD, Tripp County, SD

The radar

The North Platte radar (KLNX), 51 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:11 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
70%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
60%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
95%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 23, 8:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDCheyenne, Sherman50 min
May 23, 8:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDCheyenne, Rawlins, Sherman, Thomas, Wallace55 min
May 23, 9:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFBrown, Cherry, Keya Paha49 min
May 23, 9:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDCheyenne, Rawlins32 min
May 23, 9:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFChase, Hayes, Perkins43 min
May 23, 9:36 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLBFKeith, Perkins3 hr
May 23, 9:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningUNRTripp47 min
May 23, 10:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLBFFrontier, Lincoln45 min
May 23, 11:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDDawson, Gosper37 min
May 23, 11:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDRawlins33 min
May 23, 11:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDHitchcock, Red Willow36 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, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 41 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 2021-05-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 930 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 2021-05-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 161 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
930 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-36 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1216 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
161 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
229 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
7.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

521 
WWUS20 KWNS 240110
SEL9  
SPC WW 240110
KSZ000-NEZ000-SDZ000-240600-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 199
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
810 PM CDT Sun May 23 2021

The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Watch for portions of 
  Northwest Kansas
  Central Nebraska
  South Central South Dakota

* Effective this Sunday night and Monday morning from 810 PM
  until 100 AM CDT.

* Primary threats include...
  Scattered large hail likely with isolated very large hail events
    to 2 inches in diameter possible
  Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph likely
  A tornado or two possible

SUMMARY...A line of intense thunderstorms will track northeastward
across the watch area through the evening hours, posing a risk of
locally damaging wind gusts and hail.

The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 45
statute miles east and west of a line from 60 miles north northeast
of Valentine NE to 75 miles south of Goodland KS. For a complete
depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update
(WOUS64 KWNS WOU9).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

REMEMBER...A Severe Thunderstorm Watch means conditions are
favorable for 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. Severe thunderstorms can and occasionally do produce
tornadoes.

&&

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 196...WW 197...WW 198...

AVIATION...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
24035.

...Hart

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 23, 7:32 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCMorton118 min
May 23, 7:53 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCheyenne, Sherman67 min
May 23, 9:56 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCheyenne, Decatur, Logan, Rawlins, Sheridan, Sherman and 2 more2 hr
May 24, 1:00 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCFinney, Gove, Grant, Gray, Greeley, Hamilton and 12 more2 hr
May 24, 1:29 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCCheyenne, Decatur, Finney, Gove, Graham, Grant and 18 more9 hr
May 24, 3:42 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCGove, Logan, Rawlins, Sheridan, Thomas63 min
May 24, 5:37 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDecatur, Finney, Gove, Grant, Hamilton, Kearny and 7 more113 min
May 24, 6:39 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDecatur, Norton36 min
May 23, 8:22 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCampbell, Corson, Dewey, Potter, Stanley, Sully and 1 more53 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Nebraska, 2021Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Kansas, 2021Severe Thunderstorm Watches in South Dakota, 2021Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2021

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.