Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Goodland, KS

May 3, 1989Wallace County, Kansas

NWS Goodland, KS issued this tornado warning at May 3, 1989, 3:08 PM MDT for Wallace County, Kansas. It was in force for 37 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 3, 1989, 3:08 PM MDT (21:08 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 1989, 3:45 PM MDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Goodland, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Wallace 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

Denver, CO (KDEN), launched 12:00Z, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 165 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, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 1989-05-03Temperature 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 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 1989-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 64 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
1679 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
78 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
140 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 KGLD 032108
TORGLD
KSC199-032145-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
308 PM MDT WED MAY 3 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 345 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE WEST CENTRAL PART OF KANSAS
      WALLACE

AT 3 PM MDT A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ALONG THE SHERMAN...WALLACE
COUNTY LINE 15 MILES SOUTH OF GOODLeAND. MOVEMENT IS
SOUTHEAST 25MPH.

THIS TORNADO WAS ON THE GROUND AND CAUSING DAMAGE. ALL PERSONS NEAR
THIS DANGEROUS STORM SHOULD TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IN A REINFORCED
SHELTER.

MYERS

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 3, 1:51 PM MDT, 1 hour 17 minutes before
KSZ004-007-032100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
150 PM MDT WED MAY 3 1989

AT 150PM MDT THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ALONG THE KANSAS...
NEBRASKA BORDER NORTH OF A LINE FROM ATWOOD TO OBERLIN TO NORTON.
THIS IS 50 TO 100 MILES NORTHEAST OF GOODLAND.
THE STORMS HAVE BEEN MOVING EAST 20 MPH AND HAVE NOW TURNED AND ARE
MOVING SOUTHEAST 20MPH. THIS WILL PLACE THE HEAVIER STORMS BETWEEN
OBERLIN AND NORTON BETWEEN 2 AND 3PM MDT.
PRESENTLY THE HEAVIEST STORMS ARE IN NEBRASKA BETWEEN DANBURY AND
CAMBRIDGE.

MYERS
Special weather statement, May 3, 2:27 PM MDT, 41 minutes before
KSZ004-007-032130-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
223 PM MDT WED MAY 3 1989

AT 223PM MDT THUNDERSTORMS 25 TO 100 MILES NORTHEAST OF GOODLAND ARE
MOVING SOUTHEAST 30 MPH.  THE THUNDERSTORMS EXTEND FROM COLBY NORTHEAST
TO OBERLIN THEN EAST TO NORTON. SOME SMALL HAIL HAS BEEN REPORTED
WITH THE STRONGER STORM CENTERS. THE HEAVIEST STORMS ARE BETWEEN OBERLIN
AND NORTON...IN THE NORCATUR AND SEBILIUS RESERVOIR AREAS...
OTHER THAN THE HEAVY STORM AREA THE REMAINDER WILL BE LIGHT TO MODERATE
RAIN SHOWERS.
THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO THE PHILLIPSBURG AREA BY
3PM MDT. THE RAIN SHOULD BE OVER IN THE ATWOOD AND OBERLIN AREAS BY
3PM MDT.

MYERS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 3, 4:05 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDGraham55 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.