Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1987
Tornado Warning 3, NWS Wichita, KS
NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at May 21, 1987, 6:39 PM CDT for Labette County, Kansas. It was in force for 29 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 21, 1987, 6:39 PM CDT (23:39 UTC)
- Expired
- May 21, 1987, 7:08 PM CDT
- In force
- 29 min
- Issued by
- NWS Wichita, KS
- Area
- Whole counties
County Labette County, KS
The radar
The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.
The nearest sounding before it
Springfield, MO (KUMN), launched 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 137 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
- 1974 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -97 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 910 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 18 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 31 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 84 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KICT 212340 TORICT KSC125-099-220040- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING...CORRECTION... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS 639 PM CDT THU MAY 21 1987 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 740 PM CDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF SOUTHEAST KANSAS... EASTERN MONTGOMERY... LABETTE AT 635 PM CDT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WHICH HAS HAD SEVERAL REPORTS OF A TORNADO WAS LOCATED JUST NORTHEAST OF COFFE"YVILLE...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. THIS TORNADO WAS ON THE GROUND AND CAUSING DAMAGE. ALL PEOPLE NEAR THIS DANGEROUS STORM SHOULD TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. STEADHAM
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, May 21, 4:59 PM CDT, 1 hour 40 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS 500 PM CDT THU MAY 21 1987 ...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER SOUTHEAST KANSAS... THE STRONGEST STORMS...CAPABLE OF PRODUCING WINDS 40 TO 50 MPH... HAIL AND HEAVY RAINS THAT WILL CAUSE URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING WERE FROM THE OKLAHOMA/KANSAS BORDER SOUTHWEST OF OSWEGO IN LABETTE COUNTY THROUGH GIRARD AND WALNUT IN CRAWFORD COUNTY AND ON NORTHEAST INTO MISSOURI. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH AND PEOPLE THROUGHOUT THIS AREA SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT AND BE READY TO TAKE QUICK ACTION SHOULD THE STORMS INTENSIFY AND REQUIRE THE ISSUANCE OF A WARNING. SWAIN
The office that day
Everything else NWS Wichita, KS issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 5:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Crawford, Labette | 47 min |
| May 21, 5:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Cherokee | 56 min |
| May 21, 6:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Crawford, Labette | 30 min |
| May 21, 6:37 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Montgomery | 31 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.