Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 45, NWS Wichita, KS

May 14, 19864 counties in Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 14, 1986, 1:19 PM CDT for 4 counties in Kansas. It was in force for 56 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 14, 1986, 1:19 PM CDT (18:19 UTC)
Expired
May 14, 1986, 2:15 PM CDT
In force
56 min
Issued by
NWS Wichita, KS
Area
Whole counties

Counties Butler County, KS, Cowley County, KS, Sedgwick County, KS, Sumner 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 14, 2:00 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Sumner, KS
May 14, 2:20 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Sedgwick, 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

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 6.3 hours before the alert went out and 214 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, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 1986-05-14Temperature 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, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 1986-05-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 41 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1062 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
41 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
84 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KICT 141819
SVRICT
KSC015-035-173-191-141915-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
119 PM CDT WED MAY 14 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 215 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES OF

SOUTHEAST KANSAS...SOUTHERN BUTLER...NORTHERN COWLEY...SOUTHEAST 
 SEDGWICK AND NORTHEAST SUMNER

AT 110 PM A SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE INDICATED BY RADAR 5 TO 10
MILES NORTH OF WINFILD AND 10 MILES NORTH OF WELLINGTON MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

THIS WARNING IS FOR DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL...FIND ADEQUATE
SHELTER NOW...AND REMEMBER...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY
DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING...SO BE ON
ALERT.

FH

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 14, 12:26 PM CDT, 53 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
1225 PM CDT WED MAY 14 1986

AT 1215 PM CST..A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS HAD FORMED ALONG THE KANSAS/
OKLAHOMA BORDER FROM ARKA
Special weather statement, May 14, 12:52 PM CDT, 27 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
1235 PM CDT WED MAY 14 1986

...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 161 IS IN EFFECT FOR A SMALL PART OF SOUTH-
EAST KANSAS AND PARTS OF NORTHEAST OKLHAOMA AND SOUTHWEST MISSOURI
UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING...

AT 1230 PM CST..A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS IN NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA
NEAR BARTLESVILLE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT AROUND 30 MILES AN HOUR.

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED FROhM SOUTH OF STILLWATER TO NEAR
ENID...TO WAYNOKA OKLAHOMA.

ALL THE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HAIL..STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND
VERY HEAVY RAIN.

LACKEY
Special weather statement, May 14, 1:12 PM CDT, 7 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
110 PM CDT WED MAY 14 1986

AT 103 PM CIVIL DEFENSE PERSONS REPORTED HEAVY RAIN AND HAIL 1/4
INCH IN DIAMETER AT WINFILED KANSAS.

ELAND

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 14, 12:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTChautauqua63 min
May 14, 1:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMontgomery59 min
May 14, 1:52 PM CDTTornado WarningICTCowley, Sumner38 min
May 14, 2:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTButler56 min
May 14, 2:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMontgomery, Neosho64 min
May 14, 2:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTCowley, Sedgwick, Sumner58 min
May 14, 2:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTElk69 min
May 14, 2:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSedgwick58 min
May 14, 3:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTCrawford17 min
May 14, 3:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTButler54 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.