Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Dodge City, KS

June 6, 1989Hamilton County, Kansas

NWS Dodge City, KS issued this tornado warning at Jun 6, 1989, 4:05 PM MDT for Hamilton County, Kansas. It was in force for 40 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 6, 1989, 4:05 PM MDT (22:05 UTC)
Expired
Jun 6, 1989, 4:45 PM MDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Dodge City, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Hamilton 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 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 168 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 12:00Z on 1989-06-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 323 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 1989-06-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 169 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
323 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-323 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1114 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
169 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
223 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDDC 062206
TORDDC
KSC075-062245-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
505 PM CDT (405 PM MDT) TUE JUN 6 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DODGE CITY HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM CDT (445 PM MDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHWEST KANSAS
          ...CENTRAL HAMILTON
 
AT 503 PM CDT/ 403 PM MDT A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS SIGHTED JUST NORTH OF
COOLIDGE KANSAS MOVING EAST. THIS STORM IS LIKELY TO PRODUCE A TORNADO
WHICH WILL MOVE EAST ALONG AND JUST A MILE OR TWO NORTH OF THE
ARKANSAS RIVER IN THE DIRECTION OF SYRACUSE. THE STORM WAS 65 MILES
WEST NORTHWEST OF GARDEN CITY.
 
 
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, Jun 6, 2:36 PM MDT, 1 hour 29 minutes before
KSZ003-006-009-032130-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY, KS.
335 PM CDT TUE JUN 6 1989

...TORNADO WATCH FOR EXTREME SOUTHWEST KANSAS UNTIL 10 PM CDT....

AT 335 PM CDT RADAR SHOWED A THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN 60 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF GARDEN CITY OR 10 MILES WEST OF HUGOTON.  THIS STORM WAS
MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR AND DEVELOPING RAPIDLY.

HEAVY RAINS...STRONG WINDS AND SMALL HAIL AS+ WELL AS DANGEROUS LIGHTNING
ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.

A TORNADO WATCH HAD BEEN ISSUED FOR SOUTHWEST KANSAS SOUTH OF A LINE FROM
SYRACUSE TO GARDEN CITY AND ON THROUGH KINSLEY.  DODGE CITY AND GARDEN
CITY ARE IN THE WATCH AREA.
JOHNSON

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 6, 3:10 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCStevens50 min
Jun 6, 3:50 PM MDTTornado WarningDDCSeward, Stevens25 min
Jun 6, 3:55 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCHamilton65 min
Jun 6, 4:18 PM MDTTornado WarningDDCSeward27 min
Jun 6, 5:33 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCSeward27 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1989Every tornado warning in 1989Tornadoes in 1989

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.