Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Wichita, KS

May 21, 1989Butler County, Cowley County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at May 21, 1989, 11:01 AM CDT for Butler County, Cowley County, Kansas. It was in force for 29 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 21, 1989, 11:01 AM CDT (16:01 UTC)
Expired
May 21, 1989, 11:30 AM CDT
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Wichita, KS
Area
Whole counties

Counties Butler County, KS, Cowley 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

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 4.0 hours before the alert went out and 196 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 1989-05-21Temperature 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 1989-05-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 82 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1964 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
82 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
130 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KICT 211602
TORICT
KSC015-035-211630-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
1101 AM CDT SUN MAY 21 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1130 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTHEAST KANSAS
          ...SOUTHERN BUTLER...NORTHERN COWLEY
 
AT 1100 AM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO JUST SOUTHEAST OF DOUGLAS
OR 25 MILES EAST OF WICHITA.
 
MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR. PEOPLE IN NORTH COWLEY
AND SOUTHERN BUTLER COUNTIES SHOULD TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.
 
 
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, May 21, 7:18 AM CDT, 3 hours 43 minutes before
KSZ009-009-011-012-014-017-211330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
715 AM CDT SUN MAY 21 1989

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF CENTRAL
KANSAS TIL 1 PM...

AT 712 AM CDT...STORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN WERE LOCATED 10 AND 15 MILES
NORTHWEST OF EMPORIA...7 AND 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF SALINA...AND  JUST
NORTHWEST OF RUSSELL.  MOVEMENT FOR ALL OF THESE STORMS WAS EAST AT
30 TO 35 MILES AN HOUR.

SHOWERS WERE IN A LARGE AREA WEST OF A LINE FROM WEST OF TOPEKA TO
EMPORIA TO JUST NORTH OF WICHITA.

BURKE
Special weather statement, May 21, 8:13 AM CDT, 2 hours 48 minutes before
KSZ009-009-011-012-014-017-211430-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
812 AM CDT SUN MAY 21 1989

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF CENTRAL
KANSAS TIL 1 PM...

AT 805 AM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WINDS
AND POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL WERE 12 MILES EAST-SOUTHEAST OF RUSSELL AND
25 MILES NORTWEST OF SALINA.  MOVEMENT WAS EAST-SOUTHEAST AT 35 MILES
AN HOUR.

OTHER SHOWERS AND 3THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN AN AREA NORTH OF A LINE FROM
SOUTH OF EMPORIA TO NEAR WICHITA.  NEW THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED
NEAR THE KINGMAN AREA SINCE 735 AM.

BURKE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 21, 8:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSedgwick, Sumner67 min
May 21, 9:11 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTCowley, Sumner64 min
May 21, 9:44 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTButler61 min
May 21, 9:44 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTHarvey, Sedgwick51 min
May 21, 10:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTButler67 min
May 21, 11:13 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMarion62 min
May 21, 11:27 AM CDTTornado WarningICTButler, Cowley33 min
May 21, 12:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTHarvey44 min
May 21, 12:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTButler66 min
May 21, 12:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTChautauqua, Elk61 min
May 21, 12:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMontgomery57 min
May 21, 12:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTElk, Greenwood65 min
May 21, 1:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTChautauqua, Montgomery66 min
May 21, 2:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTCherokee, Labette34 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.