Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Wichita, KS

June 26, 1988Sedgwick County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at Jun 26, 1988, 7:54 PM CDT for Sedgwick County, Kansas. It was in force for 36 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 26, 1988, 7:54 PM CDT (00:54 UTC)
Expired
Jun 26, 1988, 8:30 PM CDT
In force
36 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 00:00Z, 0.9 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 1988-06-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 679 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 1988-06-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 6 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
679 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-126 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
947 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
104 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KICT 270132
TORICT
KSC173-270130-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
754 PM CDT SUN JUN 26 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS
          ...NORTHERN SEDGWICK
 
AT 752 PM CDT...A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS SPOTTED BY THE PUBLIC AT 29TH
STREET NORTH AND BROADWAY IN NORTH WICHITA....THE STORM WAS MOVING
TO THE WEST AT 15 MILES MILES AN HOUR.
 
 
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO
TO A STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A
TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

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, Jun 26, 3:45 PM CDT, 4 hours 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
345 PM CDT SUN JUN 26 1988

...THUNDERSTORMS INCREASING RAPIDLY...

AT 330 PM...STORMS WERE INCREASING RAPIDLY OVER PARTS OF SOUTH
CENTRAL AND CENTRAL KANSAS. THE MOST INTENSE STORMS...THOSE CAPABLE
OF PRODUCING DAMAGING WIND...HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...WERE
LOCATED 10 MILES TO THE NORTHWEST OF HUTCHINSON AND JUST TO THE
WEST OF MEDICINE LODGE.

BOATERS AND CAMPERS SHOULD BE ESPE|CIALLY ALERT FOR THE POSSIBILITY
OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS
FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE AFTERNOON.

STORMS WERE MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHWEST AT 20 TO 25 MILES AN HOUR.

WILSON

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 26, 7:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTReno59 min
Jun 26, 7:41 PM CDTTornado WarningICTReno64 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.