Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Dodge City, KS

May 16, 1986Comanche County, Kansas

NWS Dodge City, KS issued this tornado warning at May 16, 1986, 5:03 PM CDT for Comanche County, Kansas. It was in force for 42 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 16, 1986, 5:03 PM CDT (22:03 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 1986, 5:45 PM CDT
In force
42 min
Issued by
NWS Dodge City, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Comanche 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 16, 5:30 PM CDTHail 1.75Comanche, KS
May 16, 5:52 PM CDTHail 1.75Comanche, 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 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 85 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, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 1986-05-16Temperature 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, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 1986-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 211 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
NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
211 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
192 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDDC 162203
TORDDC
KSC033-162245-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
503 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 545 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF


SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS...COMANCHE

SEVERAL TORNADOES WERE REPORTED IN AND AROUND COLDWATER.
ONE TORNADO WAS 10 E OF COLDWATER AT 4.55PM.ANOTHER TORNADO 5
SOUTH OF COLDWATER. NOj MOVEMENT.

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

NAME

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 8:39 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCHamilton, Kearny51 min
May 15, 8:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCKearny55 min
May 15, 9:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFinney48 min
May 16, 5:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCBarber, Comanche, Kiowa55 min
May 16, 6:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCBarber, Pratt18 min

Nearby

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