Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Kansas City, MO

March 24, 1988Johnson County, Wyandotte County, Kansas

NWS Kansas City, MO issued this tornado warning at Mar 24, 1988, 2:51 PM CST for Johnson County, Wyandotte County, Kansas. It was in force for 9 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 24, 1988, 2:51 PM CST (20:51 UTC)
Expired
Mar 24, 1988, 3:00 PM CST
In force
9 min
Issued by
NWS Kansas City, MO
Area
Whole counties

Counties Johnson County, KS, Wyandotte 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

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 hours before the alert went out and 73 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, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 1988-03-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 529 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, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 1988-03-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 221 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
529 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-94 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
632 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
221 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
314 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
1.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMCI 242051 RRA
TORMCI
KSC091-209-242115-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY INTL AIRPORT
251 PM CST THU MAR 24 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  300 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL KANSAS
          ...NORTHERN JOHNSON
IN EAST KANSAS
          ...NORTHERN WYANDOTTE
 
 A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND IN NORTHERN JOHNSON COUNTY.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

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, Mar 24, 2:14 PM CST, 37 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY MO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
210 PM CST THU MAR 24 1988

...TORNADO WATCH..NUMBER 22..IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 PM..

AT 2 PM RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF INTENSE THUNDESTORMS...25 MILES
WIDE..FROM 30 MILES SOUTH OF OTTOWA KANSAS THRROUGH THE WEST PART
OF THE KANSAS CITY METRO AREA...TO ST JOSEPH AND INTO NORTH CENTRAL
MISSOURI...NORTH EAST OF MARYVILE.
THIS LINE OF STORMS WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.
HALF INCH HAIL HAD BEEN REPORTED FROM A FEW LOCATIONS IN WYONDOTTE
COUNTY IN KANSAS.
THESE STORMS CONTINUED TO INTENSIFY..STAY TUNED.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Kansas City, MO issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 24, 2:11 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXLeavenworth34 min
Mar 24, 2:25 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXJohnson, Wyandotte50 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1988Every tornado warning in 1988Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.