Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Wichita, KS
NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at May 2, 1988, 8:18 PM CDT for Sedgwick County, Kansas. It was in force for 42 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 2, 1988, 8:18 PM CDT (01:18 UTC)
- Expired
- May 2, 1988, 9:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 42 min
- Issued by
- NWS Wichita, KS
- Area
- Whole counties
County Sedgwick 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 2, 8:20 PM CDT | Tornado F1 | Sedgwick, 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, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 215 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1359 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 10 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -6 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -14 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 030120
TORICT
KSC173-030200-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
718 PM CST (818 PM CDT) MAY
2 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 800 PM CST (900 PM CDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS
...SEDGWICK
TORNADOS REPORTED BY SEVERAL LAW ENFORCEMENT CENTER IN SOUTHWESTERN
SEDGWICK COUNTY AROUND LAKE CHENNEY AND LAKA AFTON AREA AT 815 PM.
THIS MAY BE COLD AIR FUNNELS BUT THEY CAN CAUSE DAMAGE ALSO ... TAKE
COVER. THE MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.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 2, 5:45 PM CDT, 2 hours 33 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
540 PM CDT MON MAY 2 1988
...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS OVER CENTRAL
KANSAS AND MOVING IN FROM WESTERN KANSAS...
AT 530 PM CDT...THE LARGE BAND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN
CENTRAL AND EASTERN KANSAS CONTINUE TO MOVE NORTHEAST...WHILE THE
CELLS MOVE NEAR STRIGHT NORTH. THIS AREA WAS EAST OF LINE FROM
CONCORDIA TO EUREKA TO NEAR INDEPENDENCE.
THE AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS MOVING IN FROM WESTERN KANSAS HAVE
STRENGTHEN SINCE 430 PM. THE STRONGEST STORM WAS SOUTHWEST OF
GREAT BEND. THE AREA WAS GENERALLY WEST OF LINE FROM HAYS TO
20 MILES WEST OF ANTHONY.
IT APPEARS THAT THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL BE OCCURRING OVER
MOST OF KANSAS MOST OF THE NIGHT.
LRSpecial weather statement, May 2, 5:47 PM CDT, 2 hours 31 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
540 PM CDT MON MAY 2 1988
...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS OVER CENTRAL
KANSAS WERE MOVING IN FROM WESTERN KANSAS...
AT 530 PM CDT...THE LARGE BAND OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN
CENTRAL AND EASTERN KANSAS CONTINUE TO MOVE NORTHEAST...WHILE THE
CELLS MOVE NEAR STRIGHT NORTH. THIS AREA WAS EAST OF LINE FROM
CONCORDIA TO EUREKA TO NEAR INDEPENDENCE.
THE AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS MOVING IN FROM WESTERN KANSAS HAVE
STRENGTHEN SINCE 430 PM. THE STRONGEST STORM WAS SOUTHWEST OF
GREAT BEND. THE AREA WAS GENERALLY WEST OF LINE FROM HAYS TO
20 MILES WEST OF ANTHONY.
IT APPEARS THAT THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY WILL BE OCCURRING OVER
MOST OF KANSAS MOST OF THE NIGHT.
LRSpecial weather statement, May 2, 6:42 PM CDT, 1 hour 36 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
640 PM CDT MON MAY 2 1988
...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER
WESTERN...CENTRAL AND EASTERN KANSAS...
AT 630 PM CDT...THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER WESTERN
KANSAS...WEST OF A LINE FROM RUSSELL TO KINGMAN. THE CELLS WERE
MOVING NORTH AT 35 TO 40 MPH...WHILE THE AREA DRIFTS TO THE
NORTHEAST AT 15 TO 20 MPH.
THE AREA OF SHOWERS IN NORTHCENTRAL ANDI EASTERN KANSAS HAVE MOVED
IN THE SAME MANNER. THE HEAVIEST RAIN WAS FROM EMPORIA TO CHANUTE.
THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD BE HEARD IN THE GREATER WICHITA AREA AFTER
830 PM. THE GUSTY WINDS WILL CONTINUE ALL NIGHT.
LRSpecial weather statement, May 2, 7:47 PM CDT, 31 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS 740 PM CDT MON MAY 2 1988 ...SMALL HAIL BEING REPORTED IN KINGMAN... AT 730 PM CDT...A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING SMALL HAIL WAS INDICATED BY RADAR FROM 20 MILES SOUTH OF HUTCHINSON TO WELLINGTON. HAIL WAS REPORTED BY SHERIFF AND A WEATHER OBSERVER IN KINGMAN AS THUNDERSTORMS PASSED OVER. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN AN AREA 60 MILES WIDE THAT EXTENDED FROM 20 MILES EAST OF GREAT BEND TO NEAR HUTCHINSON ON TO NEAR PONCA CITY OKLAHOMA. THE AREA IN EASTERN KANSAS CONTINUES TO DECREASE IN INTENSITY AND AREA COVERAGE. THE WESTERN EDGE OF THIS AREA WAS FROM THE MANHATTAN AREA TO COFFEYVILLE. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. LR
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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.