Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Kansas City, MO

May 18, 1989Johnson County, Kansas

NWS Kansas City, MO issued this tornado warning at May 18, 1989, 2:17 PM CDT for Johnson County, Kansas. It was in force for 28 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 18, 1989, 2:17 PM CDT (19:17 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1989, 2:45 PM CDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Kansas City, MO
Area
Whole counties

County Johnson 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
May 18, 2:25 PM CDTHail 0.75Johnson, 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

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 7.3 hours before the alert went out and 72 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, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 1989-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 1989-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 49 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
862 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
49 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMCI 181919
TORMCI
KSC091-181945-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY MISSOURI
217 PM CDT THU MAY 18 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN KANSAS CITY MISSOURI HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  245 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL KANSAS
          ...NORTHERN JOHNSON
 
AT 211 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
OLATHE KANSAS OR ABOUT 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DOWNTOWN KANSAS CITY
MISSOURI MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
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.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Kansas City, MO issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 1:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXLeavenworth63 min
May 18, 1:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXLeavenworth, Wyandotte55 min
May 18, 1:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXJohnson, Miami57 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.