Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Wichita, KS

August 15, 1987Reno County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at Aug 15, 1987, 7:20 PM CDT for Reno County, Kansas. It was in force for 30 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
Aug 15, 1987, 7:20 PM CDT (00:20 UTC)
Expired
Aug 15, 1987, 7:50 PM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Wichita, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Reno 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
Aug 15, 7:23 PM CDTHail 0.75Reno, 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, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 161 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 1987-08-16Temperature 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, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 1987-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 67 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
3647 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
67 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
101 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 160021
TORICT
KSC155-160050-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
720 PM CDT SAT AUG 15 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 750 PM CDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF
 
SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS... RENO

AT 715 PM RARAR CONTINUED TO INDICATE A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER SOUTH
CENTRAL RENO COUNTY NEAR PRETTY PRAIRIE...MOVING TO THE NORTH-NORTHEAST
AT 20 TO 25 MILES AN HOUR.

TAKE COVER NOW.

 
TAKE COVER AT ONCE. DON'T WAIT UNTIL THE STORM IS UPON YOU...IT MIGHT
BE TOO LATE.
 
NW

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, Aug 15, 6:15 PM CDT, 1 hour 5 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
615 PM CDT SAT AUG 15 1987

...THUNDERSTORM WITH HEAVY RAIN OVER SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS...

AT 605 PM AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM POSSIBLY WITH HEAVY RAINS AND
STRONG GUSTY WINDS WAS 12 MILES WEST OF KINGMAN OVER CUNNINGHAM.

THIS STORM HAS THE POTENTIAL OF PRODUCING SOME HAIL.

MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.  WILL BE MOVING INTO
SOUTHERN RENO COUNTY BETWEEN 620 AND 603 PM.

FH
Special weather statement, Aug 15, 6:20 PM CDT, 1 hour before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY...CORRECT LAST LINE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
615 PM CDT SAT AUG 15 1987

...THUNDERSTORM WITH HEAVY RAIN OVER SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS...

AT 605 PM AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM POSSIBLY WITH HEAVY RAINS AND
STRONG GUSTY WINDS WAS 12 MILES WEST OF KINGMAN OVER CUNNINGHAM.

THIS STORM HAS THE POTENTIAL OF PRODUCING SOME HAIL.

MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.  WILL BE MOVING INTO
SOUTHERN RENO COUNTY BETWEEN 620 AND 630 PM.

FH
Special weather statement, Aug 15, 6:33 PM CDT, 47 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
630 PM CDT SAT AUG 15 1987

...THUNDERSTORM WITH HEAVY RAIN OVER SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS...

AT 625 PM INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS...POSSIBLY WITH HEAVY RAINS AND
STRONG GUSTY WINDS...WERE 30 TO 35 MILES SOUTHWEST OF HUTCHINSON
OR 15 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF KINGMAN NEAR CUNNINGHAM AND JUST
SOUTHEAST OF TURON.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS ALSO HAVE THE POTENTIAL
OF PRODUCING HAIL.

MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

FH

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.