Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Topeka, KS

July 30, 1989Cloud County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at Jul 30, 1989, 5:01 PM CDT for Cloud County, Kansas. It was in force for 29 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Jul 30, 1989, 5:01 PM CDT (22:01 UTC)
Expired: Jul 30, 1989, 5:30 PM CDT
In force: 29 min
Issued by: NWS Topeka, KS
Area: Whole counties

County Cloud 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, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 181 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1598 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -197 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1452 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 42 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 113 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCNK 302201
TORCNK
KSC029-302230-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
501 PM CDT SUN JUL 30 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE NORTH CENTRAL PART OF KANSAS
      SOUTHEAST CLOUD

AT 454 PM CDT CLOUD COUNTY LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS REPORTED
SEVERAL FUNNEL CLOUDS 4 MILES WEST OF MILTONVALE AND 1 TO 2 MILES
NORTH OF U.S. HIGHWAY 24.  THIS IS 15 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
CONCORDIA.  THIS STORM HAS DEVELOPED RAPIDLY BUT IS SHOWING VERY
LITTLE MOVEMENT.  THE WARNING DOES NOT INCLUDE THE COMMUNITY OF
CONCORDIA.  BUT DOES INCLUDE MILTONVALE AND AROURA.

PEOPLE IN THE WARNED AREA SHOULD FIND SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.
BASEMENTS OFFER THE BEST 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.

SULLIVAN

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, Jul 30, 3:10 PM CDT, 1 hour 51 minutes before

KSZ007-008-010-011-302110-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
310 PM CDT SUN JUL 30 1989

AT 308 PM RADAR SHOWED A NEWLY DEVELOPED THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING HEAVY
RAIN AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING 25 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF CONCORDIA NEAR
MUNDEN.  THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY DEVELOP OVER NORTH CENTRAL AND CENTRAL
KANSAS THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING HOURS.

PHILLIPS

Special weather statement, Jul 30, 4:42 PM CDT, 19 minutes before

KSZ013>016-302240-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
440 PM CDT SUN JUL 30 1989

...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY NEAR JUNCTION CITY...

AT 435 PM CDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS OVER FORT RILEY. FORT RILEY
IS ABOUT 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF JUNCTION CITY. THIS STORM HAS DEVELOPED
RAPIDLY SINCE 4 PM. VERY HEAVY RAINS...GUSTY WINDS OF 40 TO 50 MILES AN
AN HOUR...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLY SOME HAIL MAY BE EXPECTED
WITH THIS STORM. NO MOVEMENT HAS BEEN DETERMINED YET BUT THE STORM
WILL LIKELY BE MOVING IN A SOUTHEASTERLY DIRECTION.

OTHER DEVELOPING STRONG STORMS WERE OVER NORTH CENTRAL KANSS AROUND
CONCORDIA...AND IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS AROUND AND TO THE EAST OF
WICHITA.

BILLS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 30, 5:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Washington	64 min
Jul 30, 5:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Clay, Cloud	61 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1989 Every tornado warning in 1989 Tornadoes 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.