Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 3, NWS Wichita, KS
NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at May 21, 1988, 3:40 PM CDT for Harvey County, Kansas. It was in force for 20 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 21, 1988, 3:40 PM CDT (20:40 UTC)
- Expired
- May 21, 1988, 4:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 20 min
- Issued by
- NWS Wichita, KS
- Area
- Whole counties
County Harvey 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, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 188 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
- NaN m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 23 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 53 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 86 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 212040
TORICT
KSC079-212100-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
340 PM CDT SAT MAY 21 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 400 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS
...NORTH CENTRAL HARVEY
AT 3 37 PM CDT...A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS SPOTTED 2 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
HESSTON IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS. THE STORM WAS MuOVING NORTH AT 10 TO
15 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 21, 1:44 PM CDT, 1 hour 56 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS 144 PM CDT SAT MAY 21 1988 AT 130 PM CDT...AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM...WITH POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL...HAD DEVELOPED RAPIDLY TO THE EAST AND SOUTHEAST OF WICHITA. THIS STORM WAS BETWEEN WINFIELD AND AUGUSTA. IT WAS MOVING NORTH AT 20 MILES AN HOUR. IT SHOULD AFFECT THE AUGUSTA AREA THROUGH 3 PM CDT. ALSO...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO DEVELOP OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS. THEY EXTENDED INTO A SMALL PART OF NORTHERN OKLAHOMA. IN THE CENTRAL PART OF THE STATE...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN A 50 MILE WIDE AREA...FROM NEAR OSBORNE...THROUGH GREAT BEND...AND ON TO THE OKLAHOMA BORDER SOUTH OF MEDICINE LODGE. MOVEMENT WAS NORTH AT 25 MILES AN HOUR...SO THIS AREA OF KANSAS WILL CONTINUE TO HAVE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH 3 PM CDT. THE STRONGEST STORMS IN THIS AREA WERE FROM JUST WEST OF KINGMAN... TO JoUST SOUTHWEST OF ANTHONY. HEAVY RAINS AND GUSTY WINDS MAY OCCUR WITH SOME OF THESE. MOVEMENT WAS NORTH AT 15 MILES AN HOUR. KRAUSE
Special weather statement, May 21, 2:49 PM CDT, 51 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS 248 PM CDT SAT MAY 21 1988 AT 225 PM CDT...NUMEROUS INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS...WITH POSSIBLE HAIL...HAD DEVELOPED RAPIDLY OVER PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL... CENTRAL...AND SOUTHEASTERN KANSAS. INTENSE STORMS WERE FROM HUTCHINSON...TO NEWTON...TO AUGUSTA. THESE WERE MOVING NORTH AT 15 MILES AN HOUR. OTHER INTENSE STORMS WERE BETWEEN KINGMAN AND ANTHONY... AND ALSO NEAR ARKANSAS CITY. FINALLY...A FEW OTHER INTENSE STORMS WERE BETWEEN EMPORIA AND SALINA. IF THREATENING WEATHER DEVELOPS...GET TO SHELTER. KRAUSE
Special weather statement, May 21, 3:26 PM CDT, 14 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS 322 PM CDT SAT MAY 21 1988 ...THE TORNADO WARNING ISSUED EARLIER FOR HARVEY COUNTY HAS EXPIRED... AT 3 20 PM SEVERAL INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS...A SMALL LINE OF INTENSE STORMS WERE FROM NEAR PEABODY IN SOUTHEAST MARION COUNTY ACROSS NEWTON TO JUST NORTHEAST OF KINGMAN. MOST OF THESE STORMS CONTAIN VERY HEAVY RAINS AND SOME SMALL HAIL. THEY WERE MOVING NORTHS AT 10 TO 15 MPH. OTHER INTENSE STORMS WERE LOCATED 15 MILES NORTH OF ARGONIA... ANOTHER NEAR WINFIELD AND STILL ANOTHER JUST SOUTHWEST OF UDALL THEY WERE MOVING NORTH AT AROUND 15 MPH.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Wichita, KS issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 2:43 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Harvey | 32 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.