Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 60, NWS Topeka, KS

May 25, 1990Rice County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 25, 1990, 9:18 PM CDT for Rice 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 25, 1990, 9:18 PM CDT (02:18 UTC)
Expired
May 25, 1990, 10:15 PM CDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Rice 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 25, 9:23 PM CDTHail 1Rice, KS
May 25, 9:41 PM CDTHail 0.75Rice, 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 00:00Z, 2.3 hours before the alert went out and 162 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 1990-05-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1536 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 1990-05-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 30 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
1536 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-86 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1351 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
86 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
2.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCNK 260218
SVRCNK
KSC159-260315-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
918 PM CDT FRI MAY 25 1990

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTY

   IN THE CENTRAL PART OF KANSAS
      RICE

AT 917 PM CDT RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 20 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF GREAT BEND OR 10 MILES WEST OF STERLING.  MOVING
MORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

THIS SEVERE STORM WILL REACH THE LYONS AREA BY 10 PM.

PEOPLE IN THE WARNED AREA SHOULD GET INTO A REINFORCED SHELTER AND
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN AND
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.  THIS SEVERdE THUNDERSTORM MAY PRODUCE LARGE
HAIL GREATER THAN 3/4 INCH IN DIAMETER...DESTRUCTIVE WINDS OF OVER
60 MPH AND HEAVY RAINS WHICH MAY FLOOD LOW LYING AREAS.

ADAMS

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, May 25, 8:04 PM CDT, 1 hour 14 minutes before
KSZ016-260130-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
804 PM CDT FRI MAY 25 1990

AT 800 PM CDT A INTENSE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 30 MILES SOUTH OF
OTTAWA...JUST NORTH OF COLONY...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.
REPORTS FROM THIS STORM INDICATED THAT IT WAS PRODUCING PEA TO MARBLE
SIZE HAIL...GUSTY WINDS OF 35 TO 45 MILES AN HOUR...AND VERY HEAVY
RAINFALL. VISIBILITY IN THE HEAVY RAINFALL HAD BEEN REDUCED TO NEAR ZERO.

PERSONS IN ANDERSON COUNTY SHOULD BE ALERT AS THIS STORM PASSES. BE
PARTICULARLY ALERT FOR RAPIDLY RISING WATER AND LOCAL FLOODING.

MCNULTY
Special weather statement, May 25, 8:49 PM CDT, 29 minutes before
KSZ007-008-010-011-250300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
847 PM CDT FRI MAY 25 1990

THUNDERSTORMS WERE INCREASING RAPIDLY IN STRENGTH IN SOUTH CENTRAL
KANSAS SOME 25 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF GREAT BEND AND 35 MILES
SOUTH OF GREAT BEND.  DIRECTION OF MOVEMENT HAD BEEN DETERMINED BUT A
NORTHEAST MOVEMENT SEEMS LIKELY FOR A WHILE BEFORE TURNING MORE EASTWARD.

THESE STORMS WERE CAPABLE OF BRINGING HAIL...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...VERY
HEAVY RAINS AND DEADLY LIGHTNING.

PERSONS IN THE CENTRAL KANSAS COUNTIES OF BARTON RICE AND
MCPHERSON SHOULD BEGIN TO OBSERVE THESE THUNDERSTORMS AND BE AWARE
OF YOUR LOCAL WEATHER CONDITONS AS THEY MOVE INTO SOME PARTS OF YOUR
AREA.

ADAMS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 25, 9:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPAnderson24 min
May 26, 5:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPLincoln53 min
May 26, 6:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPEllsworth47 min

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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.