Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Goodland, KS

July 7, 1987Ness County, Kansas

NWS Goodland, KS issued this tornado warning at Jul 7, 1987, 9:57 PM CDT for Ness County, Kansas. It was in force for 33 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
Jul 7, 1987, 9:57 PM CDT (02:57 UTC)
Expired
Jul 7, 1987, 10:30 PM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Goodland, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Ness 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
Jul 7, 10:08 PM CDTHail 1Ness, 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 00:00Z, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 79 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 00:00Z on 1987-07-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4405 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 00:00Z on 1987-07-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 78 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
4405 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1317 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
78 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
243 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.1
Supercell composite
16.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGLD 080300
TORGLD
KSC135-080330-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
957 PM CDT TUE JUL 7 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM CDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF
 
WEST CENTRAL KANSAS... NESS
 
AT 950 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO JUST WEST SOUTHWEST OF NESS
CITY IN CENTRAL NESS COUNTY.
 
TAKE COVER AT ONCE. DON'T WAIT UNTIL THE STORM IS UPON YOU...IT MIGHT
BE TOO LATE.
 
TED

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Jul 7, 6:03 PM CDT, 3 hours 54 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
605 PM CDT TUE JUL 7 1987

AT 6 PM..RADAR INDICATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER
WEST CENTRAL KANSAS IN THE COUNTIES OF TREGO ANnD ELLIS. THE STORMS
WILL LIKELY MOVE IN A EASTERLY DIRECTION INTO CENTRAL KANSAS WHERE
A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT. LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS..SMALL HAIL
AND GUSTY WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS.

DORSEY
Special weather statement, Jul 7, 7:12 PM CDT, 2 hours 45 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
710 PM CDT TUE JUL 7 1987

AT 705 PM..RADAR INDICATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE EASTERN
PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST AND WESTCENTRAL KANSAS.  THE AREA WAS 20 MILES
WIDE..EXTENDING FROM SOUTHEAST OF STOCKTON TO COLLYER MOVING NORTH
AT 10 MPH. THE STRONGEST STORM WAS IN SOUTHEAST GRAHAM COUNTY..5 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF HILL CITY.

BRIEF HEAVY RAIN..GUSTY WINDS AND SOME SMALL HAIL WILL BE POSSIBLE WITH
THESE THUNDERSTORMS.

FREIBURGER
Special weather statement, Jul 7, 8:01 PM CDT, 1 hour 56 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
800 PM CDT TUE JUL 7 1987

..SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR MOST OF NORTHWEST KANSAS TIL 1 AM CDT...

AT 755 PM..THUNDERSTORMS PREVIOUSLY REPORTED OVER WEST CENTRAL KANSAS
HAVE DISSIPATED. A NEW STORM HAS DEVELOPED SINCE 730PM OVER LANE COUNTY
OF WESTERN KANSAS. NO MOVEMENT HAS BEEN NOTED AT THIS TIME ALTHOUGH AS
OTHER STORMS MOVED NORTHEAST THEN THIS ONE SHOULD ALSO.

NUMEROUS INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER EASTERN COLORADO AND MOVING EAST
AND SHOULD BE IN WESTERN KANSAS BETWEEN 10 AND 1030 PM CDT THIS EVENING.

DORSEY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 7, 8:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDGove, Lane64 min
Jul 7, 9:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDNess65 min
Jul 7, 9:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDGove, Logan59 min
Jul 7, 10:24 PM CDTTornado WarningGLDScott26 min
Jul 7, 10:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDLogan, Wichita63 min
Jul 7, 10:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDLane, Ness63 min
Jul 7, 11:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDLogan, Thomas60 min
Jul 8, 12:00 AM CDTTornado WarningGLDPhillips30 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1987Every tornado warning in 1987Tornadoes 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.