Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 33, NWS Wichita, KS
NWS Wichita, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 5, 1986, 11:39 PM CDT for Cowley County, Kansas. It was in force for 61 min. 1 report 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 5, 1986, 11:39 PM CDT (04:39 UTC)
- Expired
- May 6, 1986, 12:40 AM CDT
- In force
- 61 min
- Issued by
- NWS Wichita, KS
- Area
- Whole counties
County Cowley 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 5, 11:45 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Cowley, 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
Ok Cty/Will Rgrs, OK (KOKC), launched 00:00Z, 4.7 hours before the alert went out and 216 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2019 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -151 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1133 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 34 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 101 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 171 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.2
- Supercell composite
- 1.7
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KICT 060442 COR SVRICT KSC035-060440- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS 1139 PM CDT MON MAY 5 1986 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1240 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF SOUTHEAST KANSAS...NORTHERN COWLEY AT 1135PM CDT VERY INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED ACROSS COWLEY COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING SLOWLY TO THE EAST. THIS STORM MAY PRODUCE DOWNBURST WINDS THAT CAN CAUSE DAMAGE NEARLY AS SEVERE AS THAT CAUSED BY TORNADOES. ADDITIONALLY... FREQUENT..DANGEROUS LIGHTNING..LARGE HAIL AND HEAVY RAINS THAT CAN QUICKLY FLOOD LOW-LYING AREAS ARE dLIKELY. FLASH FLOODING WILL LIKELY RESULT FROM THE HEAVY RAIN THAT HAS FALLEN OVER THE WARNING AREA. STAY AWAY FROM AREAS SUSCEPTIBLE TO FLOODING LIKE SMALL STREAMS..LOW LYING AREAS AND UNDERPASSES. JT
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 5, 7:08 PM CDT, 4 hours 31 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS 705 PM CDT MON MAY 5 1986 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR A LARGE PORTION OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND EASTEN KANSAS... ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING UNTIL 715 PM CDT FOR NORTHERN GREENWOOD AND SOUTHEAST CHASE COUNTIES... SHORTLY BEFORE 7 PM CDT A LINE OF INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM JUST SOUTH OF TOPEKA SOUTHWEST TO ABOUT 35 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WICHITA...JUST EAST OF ANTHONY. PARTICULARLY DANGEROUS STORMS WERE LOCATED IN SOUTHEAST BUTLER COUNTY NEAR DOUGLAS...JUST EAST OF AUGUSTA...AND 55 MILES NORTHEAST OF WICHITA...NEAR TETERVILLE IN NORTHWEST GREENWOOD COUNTY. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 3k0 MILES AN HOUR...WHILE THE LINE AS A WHOLE WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR. SWAIN
Local storm report, May 5, 10:57 PM CDT, 42 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
1045 PM CDT MON MAY 5 1986
DATE TIME CDT EVENT
556 PM NWS WEATHER SPOTTER..GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL 5N 11/2E
AUGUSTA.
645 PM AUGUSTA P.D...GOLFBALL HAIL.
730-800 PM AUGUSTA P.D. ..6 S AUGUSTA 4.5 INCHES RAIN GOLFBALL
HAIL KNOCKED GAUGE APART.
831 PM COWLEY COUNTY C.D. ..3/4 INCH HAIL UDALL
836 PM COWLEY COUNTY C.D. ..1 INCH HAIL UDALL
903 PM CHANNEL 3 OBSERVER..6.5 INCHES RAIN BETWEEN AUGUSTA
AND DOUGLASS.
904 PM WELLINGTON P.D. ..1 INCH HAIL 1 WEST WELLINGTON
906 PM WELLINGTON P.D. ..3/4 INCH HAIL IN WELLINGTON
906 PM CHANNEL 3 OBSERVER..1 INCH HAIL 3 NE MULVANE
944 PM CHANNEL 3 OBSERVER..2.5 INCHES RAIN IN WELLINGTON
2-3 FEET WATER IN STREETS OF WELLINGTON
1000 PM COWLEY COUNTY C.D. ..TENNIS BALL HAIL 1 W OXFORD
1028 PM COWLEY COUNTY C.D. ..11/4 INCH HAIL OCCASIONAL
TENNIS BALL HAIL IN OXFORD
1035 PM COWLEY COUNTY C.D. ..GOLFBALL TO SOFTBALL H?AIL
JUST EAST OF OXFORD.
END
JTThe office that day
Everything else NWS Wichita, KS issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 7:21 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Butler, Cowley | 59 min |
| May 5, 7:33 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Butler, Cowley | 22 min |
| May 5, 7:59 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Butler | 31 min |
| May 5, 8:36 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Butler, Cowley, Sedgwick, Sumner | 54 min |
| May 5, 9:28 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Sumner | 32 min |
| May 5, 9:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Cowley | 58 min |
| May 5, 10:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Sumner | 58 min |
| May 5, 10:54 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Cowley | 31 min |
| May 6, 12:17 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Chautauqua, Elk | 58 min |
| May 6, 1:19 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Chautauqua, Elk, Montgomery | 56 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kansas, 1986Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.