Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Topeka, KS

August 21, 1989Osborne County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at Aug 21, 1989, 6:18 PM CDT for Osborne County, Kansas. It was in force for 27 min. 1 report 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
Aug 21, 1989, 6:18 PM CDT (23:18 UTC)
Expired
Aug 21, 1989, 6:45 PM CDT
In force
27 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Osborne 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
Aug 21, 6:25 PM CDTTornado F0Osborne, 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

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 201 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, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 1989-08-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 886 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, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 1989-08-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 106 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
886 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-148 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1432 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
106 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
36 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCNK 212318
TORCNK
KSC141-212345-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
618 PM CDT MON AUG 21 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 645 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

   IN THE NORTH CENTRAL PART OF KANSAS
      SOUTHERN OSBORNE

AT 617 PM CDT A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED 1 MILE EAST OF NATOMA
BY THE NATOMA CITY MARSHALL.

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.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.  GET TO AN
UNDERGROUND SHELTER IF POSSIBLE.  DON'T HESITATE...A FEW SECONDS
MIGHT SAVE YOUR LIFE.

PHILLIPS

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 21, 3:26 PM CDT, 2 hours 52 minutes before
KSZ007-008-010-011-212100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
325 PM CDT MON AUG 21 1989

AT 325PM CDT RADAR SHOWED A RAPIDLY DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORM 10 MILES
NORTHEAST OF CONCORDIA.   BRIEF BUT VERY HEAVY RAIN AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING CAN BE EXPEXTED WITH THIS THUNDESTORM AS IT MOVES TO THE
NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

THE THUNDERSTORM COULD REACH THE CUBA ...HADDAM AREAS BY 4 PM CDT.
PETERSEN
Special weather statement, Aug 21, 4:22 PM CDT, 1 hour 56 minutes before
KSZ013-212220-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
421 PM CDT MON AUG 21 1989

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CONTINUES UNTIL 10PM THIS EVENING FOR
NORTHCENTRAL KANSAS AND A SMALL PART OF NORTHEAST KANSAS. THE
COUNTIES IN NORTHEAST KANSAS INCLUDED IN THE WATCH ARE...MARSHALL
AND RILEY.

AT 420PM CDT NO THUNDERSTORMS WERE INDICATED BY WEATHER RADAR OVER
NORTHEAST KANSAS. VERY STRONG STORMS WERE NEAR CONCORDIA BUT WERE)
MOVING TO THE NORTH INTO NEBRASKA.

HOWEVER THE ATMOSPHERE REMAINS QUITE UNSTABL AND HUMID...THUS
STORMS COULD FORM QUITE RAPIDLY.

STAY TUNED TO WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL RADIO AND TV FOR LATER INFOR-
MATION.
.
AKULOW
Special weather statement, Aug 21, 4:25 PM CDT, 1 hour 53 minutes before
KSZ007-008-010-011-212230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
424 PM CDT MON AUG 21 1989

AT 420 PM CDT RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORM WITH HEAVY RAIN  15 TO 20
MILES NORTHEAST OF CONCORDIA.   BRIEF BUT VERY HEAVY RAIN AND
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING CAN BE EXPEXTED WITH THESE THUNDESTORM AS IT
TO THE NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.  SOME PEA SIZE HAIL REPORED 6 MILES
EAST OF BELLEVILLE AT 415 PM CDT.

THE THUNDERSTORM COULD REACH THE HADDAM ...MAHASKA AREAS BY 5 PM..

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN WERE LOCATED 30 MILES SOUTHEAST
OF PHILLIPSBURG AND 25 MILES SOUTH OF PHILLIPSBURG NEAR STOCKTON.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH
AND WILL M0OVE THROUGH THE CAWKEER CITY...GLEN ELDER AREAS BY 530PM
CDT THIS EVENING.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CDT THIS EVENING

FOR ALL OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS.

PETERSEN
Special weather statement, Aug 21, 5:31 PM CDT, 47 minutes before
KSZ013-212330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
530 PM CDT MON AUG 21 1989

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CONTINUES UNTIL 10PM THIS EVENING FOR
NORTHCENTRAL KANSAS AND A SMALL PART OF NORTHEAST KANSAS. THE
COUNTIES IN NORTHEAST KANSAS INCLUDED IN THE WATCH ARE...MARSHALL
AND RILEY.

AT 530PM CDT NO THUNDERSTORMS WERE INDICATED BY WEATHER RADAR OVER
NORTHEAST KANSAS. VERY STRONG STORMS WERE NORTH OF CONCORDIA ALONG
THE NEBRASKA BORDER MOVING TO THE NORTH.

HOWEVER THE ATMOSPHERE REMAINS QUITE UNSTABLE AND HUMID...THUS
STORMS COULD FORM QUITE RAPIDLY.

STAY TUNED TO WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL RADIO AND TV FOR LATER INFOR-
MATION.
.
AKULOW

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 21, 4:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPRepublic59 min
Aug 21, 6:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPOsborne58 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.