Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Dodge City, KS

March 26, 1991Kiowa County, Pratt County, Kansas

NWS Dodge City, KS issued this tornado warning at Mar 26, 1991, 4:25 PM CST for Kiowa County, Pratt County, Kansas. It was in force for 35 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
Mar 26, 1991, 4:25 PM CST (22:25 UTC)
Expired
Mar 26, 1991, 5:00 PM CST
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Dodge City, KS
Area
Whole counties

Counties Kiowa County, KS, Pratt County, KS

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 26, 4:43 PM CSTTornado F0Pratt, 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, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 80 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 1991-03-26Temperature 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, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 1991-03-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -99 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
3441 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-99 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
4 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 262225
TORDDC
KSC097-151-262300-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
425 PM CST TUE MAR 26 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DODGE CITY HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  500 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS
 
   ...EASTERN KIOWA COUNTY...WESTERN PRATT COUNTY
 
AT 420 PM CST WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 50 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF DODGE CITY...NEAR BELVIDERE IN EASTERN KIOWA COUNTY.
 
THE STORM IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH...AND WILL MOVE INTO WESTERN
PRATT COUNTY...NORTHWEST OF PRATT BY 500 PM.
 
 
THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS STORM.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE IN THE
PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF AVAILABLE.
OTHERWISE... GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A
STURDIER BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
 
SL

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, Mar 26, 3:19 PM CST, 1 hour 6 minutes before
KSZ003-006-009-262200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
310 PM CST TUE MARCH 26 1991

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF SOUTHWEST KANSAS...

THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING IN THE EASTERN OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE NORTH
OF GAGE. THE STORM WITH THE HEAVIEST RAIN WAS MOVING INTO SOUTHERN
CLARK COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST KANSAS EAST OF ENGLEWOOD... ABOUT 50 MILES
SOUTH OF DODGE CITY.

THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL PRODUCE TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...
AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL AS IT MOVES RAPIDLY NORTHEAST AT AROUND 40
MILES AN HOUR.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES ARE
POSSIBLE IN THE WATCH AREA.

LETRO
Special weather statement, Mar 26, 4:00 PM CST, 25 minutes before
KSZ003-006-009-262200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
400 PM CST TUE MARCH 26 1991

...THUNDERSTORMS ARE INCREASING IN INTENSITY...AND MOVING INTO SOUTHERN
   KANSAS...

A TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF SOUTH CENTRAL...AND
PARTS OF SOUTHWEST KANSAS UNTIL 10 PM CST.

THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH TORRENTIAL DOWNPOURS...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND
POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL ARE MOVING RAPIDLY THROUGH THE EASTERN PORTION
OF SOUTHWEST KANSAS. THE STORMS WITH THE HEAVIEST RAINS WERE ABOUT 40
MILES SOUTHEAST OF DODGE CITY...AND OVER THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE NORTH
OF GAGE.

THE STORMS SOUTHEAST OF DODGE CITY WILL MOVE NEAR COLDWATER IN COMANCHE
COUNTY BEFOREr 415...AND WILL BE NEAR GREENSBURG BY 430. THE STORMS IN
OKLAHOMA WILL MOVE INTO SOUTHERN COMANCHE COUNTY BY 430 PM.
.
PERSONS IN COLDWATER AND GREENSBURG SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT AS THESE
THUNDERSTORMS MOVE NORTHEAST AT NEAR 40 MPH.

LETRO

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 26, 4:03 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCComanche, Kiowa57 min
Mar 26, 4:28 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCEdwards, Stafford62 min
Mar 26, 4:41 PM CSTTornado WarningDDCStafford34 min
Mar 26, 5:02 PM CSTTornado WarningDDCPratt13 min
Mar 26, 5:08 PM CSTTornado WarningDDCBarber, Comanche52 min
Mar 26, 5:48 PM CSTTornado WarningDDCPratt27 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1991Every tornado warning in 1991Tornadoes in 1991

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.