Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Dodge City, KS

June 6, 1989Seward County, Kansas

NWS Dodge City, KS issued this tornado warning at Jun 6, 1989, 5:18 PM CDT for Seward County, Kansas. It was in force for 27 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
Jun 6, 1989, 5:18 PM CDT (22:18 UTC)
Expired
Jun 6, 1989, 5:45 PM CDT
In force
27 min
Issued by
NWS Dodge City, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Seward 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 6, 5:20 PM CDTHail 2Seward, 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 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 106 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 062219
TORDDC
KSC175-062245-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
518 PM CDT TUE JUN 6 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DODGE CITY HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHWEST KANSAS
          ...SOUTHERN SEWARD
 
AT 515 PM CDT THE TORNADO WEST NORTHWEST OF LIBERAL WAS STILL ON THE
GROUND AND HEADED TOWARDS THE LIBERAL AREA. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
WINDS WERE PRECEDING THE TORNADO INTO LIBERAL. DO NOT WAIT...TAKE
SHELTER NOW.
 
 
THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS STORM.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE IN THE
PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF AVAILABLE.
OTHERWISE... GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A
STURDIER BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

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, 3:36 PM CDT, 1 hour 42 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, 4:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCStevens50 min
Jun 6, 4:50 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCSeward, Stevens25 min
Jun 6, 4:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCHamilton65 min
Jun 6, 5:05 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCHamilton40 min
Jun 6, 6:33 PM CDTSevere 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.