Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 57, NWS Dodge City, KS

August 15, 1990Stafford County, Kansas

NWS Dodge City, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 15, 1990, 7:17 PM CDT for Stafford County, Kansas. It was in force for 43 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 15, 1990, 7:17 PM CDT (00:17 UTC)
Expired
Aug 15, 1990, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Dodge City, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Stafford 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

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 00:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 108 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 00:00Z on 1990-08-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 264 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 00:00Z on 1990-08-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 11 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
264 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2229 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
11 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
53 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 KDDC 160018
SVRDDC
KSC185-160100-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
717 PM CDT WED AUG 15 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DODGE CITY HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS
          ...SOUTHERN STAFFORD
 
AT 710 PM RADAR WAS INDICATING A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 20 MILES
NORTHWEST OF PRATT KANSAS BETWEEN THE COMMUNITIES OF TROUSDALE AND
BELPRE KANSAS. THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN
HOUR AND WILL ARRIVE ST. JOHN KANSAS IN CENTRAL STAFFORD COUNTY BY 745
PM. HAIL THREE FOURTHS INCH OR LARGER CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM
AS WELL AS TORRENTIAL RAINS AND DEADLY LIGHTNING.
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND
DEADLY LIGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER..
.
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 15, 5:45 PM CDT, 1 hour 32 minutes before
KSZ003-006-009-152330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
545 PM CDT TUE AUG 14 1990

....SPOTTY THUNDERSTORMS COVER A HOST OF COUNTIES IN SOUTHWEST KANSAS.... ..

AT 540 PM RADAR WAS SHOWING WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...MOST ONLY A
FEW MILES IN DIAMETER...SPREAD ACROSS 15 DIFFERENT COUNTIES ACROSS SOUTHWEST
KANSAS.  THE STORNGEST STORM WAS 30 MILES WEST OF GARDEN CITY NEAR LAKIN.
ANOTHER FAIRLY LARGE THUNDERSTORM WAS 30 MILES SOUTH OF PRATT ON THE OKLAHOMA
LINE.  THE CLOSEST STORM OR RAINSHOWER TO DODGE CITY WAS 25 MILES TO THE
SOUTHEAST NEAR CLARK COUNTY LAKE.

ALL THE STORMS POPPING UP THIS AFTERNON WERE PRETTY SMALL AND FAR APART.

THE STORMS WERE MOVhING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

NOLLER
Special weather statement, Aug 15, 6:38 PM CDT, 39 minutes before
KSZ003-006-009-160100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
635 PM CDT TUE AUG 14 1990

....TWO THUNDERSTORMS WERE GAINING STRENGTH IN SOUTHWEST KANSAS.....

AT 630 PM RADAR WAS INDICATING TWO VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS THAT MAY PRODUCE
VERY HEAVY RAIN AND EVEN SOME HAIL IN SOUTHWEST KANSAS.  ONE STORM WAS 20
MILES NORTHWEST OF GARDEN CITY AND ANOTHER 25 MILES NORTHWEST OF PRATT KANSAS
OR 10 MILES EAST OF KINSLEY.

THE STORM NEAR KINSLEY WAS SHOWING SOME VERY HEAVY RAINFALL AND THIS STORM
WILL TREK ACROSS NORTHERN STAFFORD COUNTY WHICH WAS SATURATED BY 2 INCH RAINS
LAST NIGHT.

OTHER LESSER STORMS WERE SCATTERED THROUGH OUT SOUTHWEST KANSAS.  ALL WERE
MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.  IF THREATNING WEATHER APPROACHES TAKE
COVER IN A BUILDING OR BASEMENT AND VACATE MOBILE HOMES AND CARS.
NOLLER

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kansas, 1990Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1990

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.