Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Dodge City, KS

May 27, 1988Finney County, Kansas

NWS Dodge City, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 27, 1988, 8:10 PM CDT for Finney County, Kansas. It was in force for 65 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 27, 1988, 8:10 PM CDT (01:10 UTC)
Expired
May 27, 1988, 9:15 PM CDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Dodge City, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Finney 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 27, 8:30 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Finney, 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, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 80 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 1988-05-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1379 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 1988-05-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 12 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
1379 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-47 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1924 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
220 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
4.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDDC 280110
SVRDDC
KSC055-280215-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
810 PM CDT FRI MAY 27 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DODGE CITY KHAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  915 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHWEST KANSAS
          ...FINNEY
 
THUNDERSTORMS HAVE REACHED SEVERE LIMITS FROM 7 MILES EAST NORTHEAST
OF GARDEN CITY TO 10 MILES NORTH OF GARDEN CITY.
 
THESE STORMS HAVE SHOWN LITTLE MOVEMENT.
 
CLYDE
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND
DEADLY LIGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOU	LD MOVE TO A SHELTER...
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

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 27, 4:40 PM CDT, 3 hours 30 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
 TIME DAY DATE

 440 PM CDT FRI MAY 27 1988

THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER SOUTHWEST KANSAS.

AT 440 PM THIS AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED ACROSS
PARTS OF SOUTHWEST KANSAS.
IN THE SOUTHWEST A THUNDERSTORM WAS OVER ELKHART MOVING SOUTHEAST 15 MPH.
AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM 8 MILES NORTHEAST OF GARDEN CITY AND
MOVING SOUTH 10 MPH.
ANOTHER THUNDERSTORM OVER MEADE AND MOVING SOUTHWEST 15 MPH.

LOCAL HEAVY RAIN AND LIGHTING WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS.

GREGG
Special weather statement, May 27, 5:17 PM CDT, 2 hours 53 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
513 PM CDT FRI MAY 27 1988

THUNDERSTORMS INTENSIFING OVER SOUTHWEST KANSAS

AT 513 PM THIS AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS WERE STRONG 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF
ELKHART AND COULD PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS HAIL AND HEAVY RAINS. MOVEMENT
SOUTHEAST 5 MPH.
IN THE MEADE AREA  A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM EXTENDED 5 MILES
NORTH OF MEADE TO THE OKLAHOMA BORDER.  STRONG WINDS HAIL AND HEAVY RAINS
WITH THIS THUNDERSTORMS.  NO MOVEMENT BUT BUILDING TO THE NORTH
AND SOUTH.
ANOTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS 10 MILES NORTHEAST OF GARDEN CITY WITH
DAMAGING WINDS LIKELY HAIL AND LOCAL HEAVY RAINS.  MOVEMENT NORTH 10 MPH.

GREGG
Special weather statement, May 27, 6:19 PM CDT, 1 hour 51 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
620 PM CDT FRI MAY 27 1988

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT FOR
SOUTHWESTERN KANSAS.

AT 615 PM THIS AFTERNOON STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER GARDEN CITY.
AND 10 MILES WEST OF FOWLER.
OTHER THUNDERSTORMMS WERE SCATTERED ACROSS SOUTHWESTERN KANSAS... 5
MILES EAST OF KALVESTA AND AND 10 MILES EAST OF ELKHART.

BRIEF HEAVY RAINS...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND SMALL HAIL ARE POSSIBLE
WITH THESE STORMS.
Special weather statement, May 27, 6:48 PM CDT, 1 hour 22 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
645 PM CDT FRI MAY 27 1988

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE INCREASING ACROSS SOUTHWESTERN KANSAS...

AT 645 PM SEVERE THUNDERSTO2RMS WERE 5 MILES WEST OF FOWLER AND
5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF PLAINS.

HEAVY RAINS...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL WERE IN THESE STORMS.

THESE STORMS HAVE SHOWN LITTLE MOVEMENT.

CLYDE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 27, 7:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCGray, Meade59 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kansas, 1988Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1988

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.