Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Topeka, KS

May 22, 1989Jewell County, Republic County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at May 22, 1989, 10:18 PM CDT for Jewell County, Republic County, Kansas. It was in force for 57 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
May 22, 1989, 10:18 PM CDT (03:18 UTC)
Expired
May 22, 1989, 11:15 PM CDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

Counties Jewell County, KS, Republic 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 22, 10:45 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Republic, KS
May 22, 11:10 PM CDTHail 0.75Republic, 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

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 00:00Z, 3.3 hours before the alert went out and 214 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, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 1989-05-23Temperature 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, Omaha, NE at 00:00Z on 1989-05-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 14 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
3545 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
14 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
111 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 KCNK 230318
TORCNK
KSC089-157-230415-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
1018 PM CDT MON MAY 22 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1115 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE NORTH CENTRAL PART OF KANSAS
      EASTERN JEWELL...WESTERN REPUBLIC

AT 1015 PM A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY RADAR 35 MILES NORTH
NORTHWEST OF CONCORDIA NEAR SUPERIOR NEBRASKA MOVING SOUTH
SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.  THIS SEVERE STORM WILL BE NEAR FORMOSA
OR 20 MILES NORTHWEST OF CONCORDIA BY 1045 PM.

PEOPLE IN THE WARNED AREA SHOULD FIND SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.
BASEMENTS OFFER THE xBEST PROTECTION.  SMALL ROOMS NEAR THE
CENTER OF HOMES AND BUILDINGS ON THE LOWEST FLOOR ARE ALSO FAIRLY
SAFE.  MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES OFFER NO SHELTER...SO LEAVE THEM.
EVEN A DITCH OR LOW PLACE IS SAFER THAN A MOBILE HOME OR CAR.

ADAMS

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 22, 8:57 PM CDT, 1 hour 21 minutes before
KSZ010>011-013>015-230255-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
857 PM CDT MON MAY 22 1989

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHCENTRAL AND
   NORTHEAST KANSAS UNTIL 2 AM CDT...

INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA IN THE GRAND ISLAND
VICINITY.   THESE STORMS HAVE PROMPTED THE ISSUANCE OF THE SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WATCH.  GUSTS TO 59 MPH WERE REPORTED AT GRAND ISLAND
ABOUT 815 PM THIS EVENING.

THE AREA OF STORMS WAS ABOUT 50 MILES IN DIAMETER AND MOVING TO
THE SOUTHEAST AT AROUND 35 MPH.

THE STORMS WILL BE MOVING INTO DEEPER MOISTURE AS THEY MOVE SOUTHEAST
AND COULD POSSIBLY INCREASE IN COVERAGE ACROSS KANSAS.

PERSONS IN NORTHEAST AND NORTHCENTRAL KANSAS SHOULD BE ALERT TO
DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORMS AND BE READY TO TAKE COVER IF THREATENING
WEATHER APPROACHES.

FRANTZ
Special weather statement, May 22, 9:24 PM CDT, 54 minutes before
KSZ007-008-010-011-230330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
922 PM CDT MON MAY 22 1989

AT 920 PM INTENSE TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA
NORTHWEST OF A LINE FROM 20 NORTHWEST OF BEATRICE NEBRASKA TO NEAR 50
MILES NORTH TO CONCORDIA TO NEAR HASTINGS NEBRASKA.  SOME OF THESE STORMS
CONTAIN GUSTY WINDS OVER 60 MPH...LARGE HAIL...HEAVY DOWNPOURS AND
DEADLY LIGHTNING.  MOVEMENT WAS SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE ON A LINE FROM 35 MILES NORTHEAST OF CONCORDIA
...NEAR WASHINGTON TO 20 MILES NORTH OF CONCORDIA...NEAR BELLEVILLE TO
35 MILES NORTHWEST OF CONCORDIA...NEAR MANKATO BY 1020 PM.

PERSONS IN THE NORTHERN COUNTIES .OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS BE ALERT AND
TAKE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS AS THE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE THROUGH THE AREA.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR ALL OF NORTH CENTRAL
KANSAS AND A PART OF CENTRAL KANSAS UNTIL 2 AM TUESDAY.  ADAMS
Special weather statement, May 22, 9:51 PM CDT, 27 minutes before
KSZ010>011-013>015-230350-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
950 PM CDT MON MAY 22 1989

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PARTS OF NORTHCENTRAL AND
   NORTHEAST KANSAS UNTIL 2 AM CDT...

THERE WERE NO THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHEAST KANSAS AT 945 THIS EVENING.
RADAR SHOWED THE LEADING EDGE OF A MASS OF POTENT STORMS OVER SOUTH
CENTRAL NEBRASKA JUST MOVING ACROSS THE KANSAS BORDER WEST OF
MARYSVILLE.  THE CORE OF THE STORM SYSTEM WAS NORTH OF CONCORDIA
NEAR HASTINGS...NEBRASKA.  THE STORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT
AROUND 30 MILES AN HOUR.

THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY MOVE INTO THE MARYSVILLE AREA BETWEEN 10
AND 11 TONIGHT...AND REACH MANHATTAN BY MIDNIGHT.

A SEVE8RE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS POSTED UNTIL 2AM FOR THAT PART OF
KANSAS GENERALLY NORTH OF A LINE FROM TOPEKA TO MCPHERSON TO SMITH
CENTER.  THE WATCH AREA INCLUDES MOST OF NORTH CENTRAL AND
NORTHEAST KANSAS.

SCHURR

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 22, 11:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPCloud, Republic44 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.