Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Dodge City, KS

May 15, 1986Hamilton County, Kearny County, Kansas

NWS Dodge City, KS issued this tornado warning at May 15, 1986, 7:39 PM MDT for Hamilton County, Kearny County, Kansas. It was in force for 51 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 15, 1986, 7:39 PM MDT (01:39 UTC)
Expired: May 15, 1986, 8:30 PM MDT
In force: 51 min
Issued by: NWS Dodge City, KS
Area: Whole counties

Counties Hamilton County, KS, Kearny County, KS

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 15, 7:45 PM MDT	Hail 1.75	Hamilton, KS
May 15, 8:15 PM MDT	Hail 1.75	Kearny, KS

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 148 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: 159 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -145 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2208 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 138 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDDC 160139
TORDDC
KSC075-093-150230-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
839 PM CDT THU MAY 15 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 930 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES 
OF


SOUTHWEST KANSAS...NORTHEAST HAMILTON AND WESTERN KEARNY

AT 831 CDT A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC APPROXIMATELY
4 MILES EAST OF SYRACUSE KANSAS.  THE ASSOCIATED THUNDERSTORM HAS
DROPPED GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL EAST OF SYRACUSE OR 60 MILES WEST OF
GARDEN CITY KANSAS.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.  DON/T HESITATE.
A FEW SECONDS MIGHT SAVE YOUR LIFE.

FIND SHELTER IMMEDIATELY. BASEMpENTS ARE BEST.  CENTRAL PARTS OF
HOMES AND BUILDINGS ARE ALSO FAIRLY SAFE.  LEAVE MOBILE HOMES
AND VEHICLES...EVEN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT IS SAFER.

NOLLER

The office that day

Everything else NWS Dodge City, KS issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 15, 7:45 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DDC	Kearny	55 min
May 15, 8:42 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DDC	Finney	48 min
May 16, 4:03 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	DDC	Comanche	42 min
May 16, 4:49 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DDC	Barber, Comanche, Kiowa	55 min
May 16, 5:55 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DDC	Barber, Pratt	18 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1986 Every tornado warning in 1986 Tornadoes in 1986

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.