Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 10, NWS Dodge City, KS

May 3, 1987Grant County, Kansas

NWS Dodge City, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 1987, 4:57 PM CDT for Grant County, Kansas. It was in force for 63 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 3, 1987, 4:57 PM CDT (21:57 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 1987, 6:00 PM CDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Dodge City, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Grant 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 3, 5:15 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 61Grant, 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, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 126 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 1987-05-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 18 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, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 1987-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 199 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
18 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-366 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1199 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
199 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
230 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 032158
SVRDDC
KSC067-032300-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
457 PM CDT SUN MAY 3 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 600 PM CDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF
 
SOUTHWEST KANSAS... GRANT
 
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX WAS MOVING THROUGH GRANT COUNTY AT 500PM
CDT.  THIS STORM IS EXTREMELY DANGEROUS.  THE STORM WAS SOUTH[EAST OF
ULYSSES AND MOVING NORTH NORTHWEST VERY SLOWLY.
 
THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL LIKELY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...HEAVY RAIN...DAMAGING
WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.  SEEK SHELTER FROM THIS STORM.
 
JR

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 3, 2:13 PM CDT, 2 hours 44 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
213 PM CDT SUN MAY 3 1987

.......VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORM SOUTH OF LIBERAL.......

AT 213 PM CDT THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON A VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORM WAS OVER
NORTHWEST BEAVER COUNTY IN THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE.  THIS STORM HAD
MOVED VERY SLOWLY NORTH DURING THE LAST HOUR.

THIS STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY STRONG WINDS...SMALL HAIL AND
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AS WELL AS VERY HEAVY RAINS.  THE STORM COULD ENTER
LIBERAL DURING THE NEXT HOUR.  PERSONS IN SOUTHERN SEWARD COUNTY SHOULD
BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.
JOHNSON1913Z
Special weather statement, May 3, 3:08 PM CDT, 1 hour 49 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
305 PM CDT SUN MAY 3 1987

.......VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORM IN SOUTHERN SEWARD COUNTY..........

AT 305 PM CDT THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON A VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORM WAS OVER
SOUTHERN SEWARD COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST KANSAS.  THE STORM CONTINUED TO MOVE
ALMOST DUE NORTH ACROSS SEWARD COUNTY AT ABOUT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

THIS STORM HAD PRODUCED STRONG WINDS...VERY HEAVY RAINS AND SOME PEA^
SIZED HAIL OVER SOUTHERN SEWARD COUNTY IN THE LAST HOUR.  PERSONS IN
SEWARD COUNTY SHOULD REMAIN ALERT TO THE STORM AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK
SHELTER IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.
JOHNSON2008Z

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 3, 4:10 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCHaskell50 min
May 3, 4:29 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCGrant31 min
May 3, 5:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCStanton31 min
May 3, 5:52 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCFinney58 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kansas, 1987Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1987

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.