Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 19, NWS Dodge City, KS

June 2, 1987Barber County, Kansas

NWS Dodge City, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 2, 1987, 5:09 PM CDT for Barber County, Kansas. It was in force for 31 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
Jun 2, 1987, 5:09 PM CDT (22:09 UTC)
Expired
Jun 2, 1987, 5:40 PM CDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Dodge City, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Barber 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
Jun 2, 5:34 PM CDTHail 0.75Barber, 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, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 123 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 1987-06-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2104 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 1987-06-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 65 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
2104 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-143 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1122 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
65 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
74 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 KDDC 022210
SVRDDC
KSC007-022240-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
509 PM CDT TUE JUN 2 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 540 PM CDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF
 
SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS... BARBER
 
THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX OVER EASTERN AND SOUTHERN BARBER COUNTY
REMAINS EXTREMELY INTENSE AND WILL BE OVER THOSE PORTIONS OF THE COUNTY
FOR ANOTHER HALF AN HOUR.  THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING HAS BEEN
EXTENDED IN TIME AND IN AREA.
 
THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL LIKELY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...HEAVY RAIN...DAMAGING
WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.  SEEK SHELTER FROM THIS STORM.
 
JRJ

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, Jun 2, 1:18 PM CDT, 3 hours 51 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
120 PM CDT TUE JUN 2 1987

......HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS IN WEST CENTRAL KANSAS.........

AT 120 PM CDT THIS AFTERNOON VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS RUMBLED ACROSS
PORTIONS OF EDWARDS...PAWNEE AND STAFFORD COUNTIES IN WEST CENTRAL
KANSAS.  THE STORMS WERE ALONG A NEARLY STATIONARY FRONT WHICH EXTENDED
FROM NEAR TOPEKA SOUTHWEST TO JUST SOUTH OF SALINA...NORTH OF HUTCHINSON
AND ON SOUTHWEST TO JUST SOUTH OF MEADE.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING BREIF VERY HEAVY RAINS...GUSTY
WINDS AND SOME SMALL HAIL AS WELL AS DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.  IF YOU ARE
IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THESE STORMS...BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER IF
THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.
JOHNSON1818Z
Special weather statement, Jun 2, 2:08 PM CDT, 3 hours 1 minute before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
210 PM CDT TUE JUN 2 1987

......SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FROM DODGE CITY EAST UNTIL 7 PM CDT...

AT 210 PM CDT THIS AFTERNOON SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING ACROSS
PORTIONS OF CENTRAL KANSAS.  ALTHOUGH THERE WERE NO THUNDERSTORMS IN
SOUTHWEST KANSAS...OUR ATMOSPHERE REMAINS EXTREMELY UNSTABLE.  THIS
MEANS THAT VERY VIOLENT THUNDERSTORMS COULD BEGIN FORMING IN THE WATCH
AREA ^EAST OF DODGE CITY AT ANY MOMENT.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN DODGE CITY CONTINUES TO CLOSELY
MONITOR THIS SITUATION.  FURTHER BULLETINS WILL BE ISSUED AS CONDITIONS
WARRANT.
JOHNSON1908Z
Special weather statement, Jun 2, 2:57 PM CDT, 2 hours 12 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
255 PM CDT TUE JUN 2 1987

.......SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR STAFFORD...PRATT AND BARBER
   COUNTIES AND AREAS TO THE EAST UNTIL 7 PM CDT.........

AT 255 PM CDT THIS AFTERNOON NO THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURING ACROSS
ANY PORTION OF SOUTHWEST KANSAS.  OUR ATMOSPHERE REMAINS EXTREMELY
UNSTABLE BUT IT NOW APPEARS THAT ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORM FORMATION
OVER SOUTHWEST KANSAS IS HIGHLY UNLIKELY.  THE WATCH AREA HAD BEEN
DROPPED FOR SOUTHWEST KANSAS.

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE IN DODGE CITY CONTINUES TO CLOSELY
MONITOR THIS SITUATION.  FURTHER BULLETINS WILL BE ISSUED AS CONDITIONS
WARRANT.
JOHNSON1956Z
Special weather statement, Jun 2, 4:22 PM CDT, 47 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
420 PM CDT TUE JUN 2 1987

.......SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR STAFFORD...PRATT AND BARBER
   COUNTIES AND AREAS TO THE EAST UNTIL 7 PM CDT.........

AT 420 PM CDT THIS AFTERNOON VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED
RAPIDLY ALONG THE COOL FRONT OVER PORTIONS OF KINGMAN...PRATT AND
BARBER COUNTIES IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS.  THESE STORMS WERE RAPIDLY
GAINING INTENSITY AND MOVING VERY SLOWLY EAST AND SOUTHEAST.

THE STORMS EXTENDED FROM JUST NORTHWEST OF CUNNINGHAM IN WWESTERN
KINGMAN COUNTY TO JUST WEST OF MEDICINE LODGE IN BARBER COUNTY.  THEY
ARE CAPAPBLE OF PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINS...STRONG WINDS AND SMALL
HAIL AS WELL AS DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.  IF YOU ARE NEAR THESE STORMS BE
PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.
JOHNSON2122Z

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 1, 8:43 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCFinney47 min
Jun 2, 4:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCBarber44 min
Jun 2, 5:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCBarber29 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.