Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Wichita, KS

June 10, 1989Butler County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at Jun 10, 1989, 5:36 PM CDT for Butler County, Kansas. It was in force for 39 min. 2 reports 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 10, 1989, 5:36 PM CDT (22:36 UTC)
Expired
Jun 10, 1989, 6:15 PM CDT
In force
39 min
Issued by
NWS Wichita, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Butler 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 10, 5:55 PM CDTHail 1.75Butler, KS
Jun 10, 6:18 PM CDTHail 2.75Butler, 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, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 171 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 1989-06-10Temperature 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°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 1989-06-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 112 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1150 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
112 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
162 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 KICT 102236
TORICT
KSC015-102315-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
536 PM CDT SAT JUN 10 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHEAST KANSAS
          ...SOUTHERN BUTLER
 
AT 532 PM CDT...AUGUSTA POLICE CONFIRMED A FUNNEL CLOUD
4 MILES NORTHEAST OF DOUGLASS...OR ABOUT 15 MILES SOUTHEAST
OF WICHITA.  MOVEMENT WAS EAST-NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES
AN HOUR.  THE TOWN OF LEON IS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM.
 
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A STAIRWELL OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF9 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.
 
KRAUSE

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 10, 4:12 PM CDT, 1 hour 24 minutes before
KSZ-011-012-014-017-102200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
410 PM CDT SAT JUN 10 1989

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR MUCH OF SOUTHEAST KANSAS UNTIL 8 PM...

AT 400 PM CDT...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER PORTIONS
OF SOUTHEAST KANSAS.  SOME OF THESE STORMS HAD HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY
WIND...SMALL HAIL...AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING.

IN SOUTHEAST KANSAS...THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS 5 MILES WEST
OF EL DORADO...OR ABOUT 25 MILES NORTHEAST OF WICHITA.  THIS STORM
MAY PRODUCE SMALL HAIL...GUSTY WIND...FREQUENT LIGHTNING...AND
VERY HEAVY RAIN.  PERSONS ON EL DORADO LAKE SHOULD GET OFF NOW.
OTHER PEOPLE AROUND EL DORADO SHOULD LISTEN FOR LATExR STATEMENTS
AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.  MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

OTHERWISE...ONLY A FEW WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS WERE AROUND SOUTHEAST
KANSAS.  THESE WERE SOUTH OF A LINE FROM PITTSBURG TO EL DORADO.

KRAUSE
Special weather statement, Jun 10, 4:57 PM CDT, 39 minutes before
KSZ012-102300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
455 PM CDT SAT JUN 10 1989

...HEAVY RAINS IN THE WICHITA AREA CAUSING LOCAL STREET FLOODING...

IN THE FOURTY FIVE MINUTES BETWEEN 400 PM AND 445 PM WICHITA MID-
CONTINENT AIRPORT RECEIVED 2.55 INCHES OF RAIN. WITH HEAVY RAINS
IN WICHITA STREETS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WILL LIKELY BE CURB TO CURB.

ELAND
Special weather statement, Jun 10, 5:26 PM CDT, 10 minutes before
KSZ012-017-102300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
525 PM CDT SAT JUN 10 1989

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 449 FOR PARTS OF SOUTHEAST AND
SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS UNTIL 8 PM CDT...

AT 512 PM CDT...INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM JUST EAST
OF WICHITA...TO ELDORADO...WHICH IS 25 MILES NORTHEAST OF WICHITA.

THE ONLY OTHER THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTHEAST KANSAS WERE NEAR
COFFEYVILLE...BUT THESE DID NOT APPEAR TO BE SEVERE.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE NEAR BARTLESVILLE OKLAHOMA...AND WERE MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.  THESE STORMS SHOULD MOVE ACROSS THE
KANSAS...OKLAHOMA BORDER BY 6 PM CDT.  PERSONS IN CHAUTAUQUA...
MONTGOMERY...AND LABET-TE COUNTIES SHOULD LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS
AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

KRAUSE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 10, 3:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSedgwick66 min
Jun 10, 4:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTButler, Sedgwick59 min
Jun 10, 4:27 PM CDTTornado WarningICTSedgwick33 min
Jun 10, 5:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTButler60 min
Jun 10, 6:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTHarvey69 min
Jun 10, 6:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTButler57 min
Jun 10, 6:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTChautauqua67 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.