Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Wichita, KS

August 19, 1989Crawford County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at Aug 19, 1989, 7:39 PM CDT for Crawford County, Kansas. It was in force for 36 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 19, 1989, 7:39 PM CDT (00:39 UTC)
Expired
Aug 19, 1989, 8:15 PM CDT
In force
36 min
Issued by
NWS Wichita, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Crawford 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

Springfield, MO (KUMN), launched 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 115 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, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 1989-08-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 723 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, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 1989-08-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 209 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
723 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-101 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
988 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
209 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
381 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
2.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KICT 200039
TORICT
KSC037-200115-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
739 PM CDT SAT AUG 19 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 815 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE SOUTHEAST PART OF KANSAS
      CRAWFORD

AT 736 PM CDT...A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED BY A SHERIFF JUST EAST
OF PITTSBURG.  THE THUNDERSTORM AND ASSOCIATED FUNNEL CLOUD WERE
MOVING EAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

 THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY. DON/T HESITATE.
 A FEW SECONDS MIGHT SAVE YOUR LIFE.

STEADHAM

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, Aug 19, 6:28 PM CDT, 1 hour 11 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
620 PM CDT SAT AUG 19 1989

AT 618 AM...THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING BRIEF
HEAVY RAIN HAVE DEVELOPED SINCE 6:00 PM.  THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE
IN THE SOUTHERN 2 ROWS OF COUNTIES FROM WINFIELD EAST TO THE STATE
LINE OF MISSOURI.

VERY HEAVY RAIN AND LIGHTNING CAN BE EXPECTED FROM THESE STORMS...
PLUS THE SLOW EASTWARD MOVEMENT MAY CAUSE SOME SMALL STREAM FLOODING
AS WELL AS STREET FL,OODING.  PERSONS SHOULD REMAIN VERY WATCHFUL
OF RISING WATER THE NEXT TWO HOURS.

LR

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 19, 7:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTCowley60 min
Aug 19, 8:32 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningICTCowley3 hr
Aug 19, 9:59 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningICTMontgomery3 hr
Aug 19, 11:22 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningICTCowley, Sumner2 hr
Aug 20, 3:43 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTReno62 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.