Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Goodland, KS

May 15, 1991Scott County, Wichita County, Kansas

NWS Goodland, KS issued this tornado warning at May 15, 1991, 6:21 PM CDT for Scott County, Wichita County, Kansas. It was in force for 69 min. 5 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 15, 1991, 6:21 PM CDT (23:21 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 1991, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
69 min
Issued by
NWS Goodland, KS
Area
Whole counties

Counties Scott County, KS, Wichita County, KS

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 15, 6:27 PM CDTTornado F0Wichita, KS
May 15, 6:27 PM CDTTornado F0Wichita, KS
May 15, 6:27 PM CDTTornado F0Wichita, KS
May 15, 6:27 PM CDTTornado F0Wichita, KS
May 15, 6:30 PM CDTTornado F0Scott, 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, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 133 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 1991-05-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 336 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 1991-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 141 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
336 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-324 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
837 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
141 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
171 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 KGLD 152323
TORGLD
KSC171-203-160030-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
521 PM MDT (621 PM CDT) WED MAY 15 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GOODLAND HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM MDT (730 PM CDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN WEST CENTRAL KANSAS
 
   ...SCOTT COUNTY...WICHITA COUNTY
 
AT 615PM CDT..TORNADOS WERE REPORTED BY LAW OFFICALS AT 1 MILE NORTH
AND 1/2 MILE EAST OF LEOTI AND 20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF LEOTI IN WICHITA
COUNTY AND ALONG SCOTT AND WICHITA COUNTY LINES 8 MILES SOUTH OF K96.
 
TORNADO ALSO REPORTED 10 MILES WEST OF SCOTT CITY IN WESTERN SCOTT
COUNTY.
 
THESE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHWEST AT 20 MPH.
 
 
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.

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, May 15, 4:24 PM CDT, 1 hour 57 minutes before
KSZ001-002-152230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
323 PM MDT (423 PM CDT) WED MAY 15 1991

..TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CDT FOR LARGE PART OF WESTERN
KANSAS..

AT 415 PM CDT..RADAR INDICATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER
NORTHWEST KANSAS IN SCOTT COUNTY..ABOUT 30 MILES NORTHWEST OF GARDEN
CITY..AND OTHER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER WALLACE AND LOGAN
COUNTY..20 TO 30 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GOODLAND.

THE STORM 20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GOODLAND..SHOWED THE POTENTIAL FOR
HAIL.  THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTH AT 20 MPH AND PERSONS IN EASTERN
SHERMAN COUNTY SHOULD BE ALERT TO THE CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

DORSEY
Special weather statement, May 15, 5:12 PM CDT, 1 hour 9 minutes before
KSZ001-002-152230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
323 PM MDT (423 PM CDT) WED MAY 15 1991

..TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CDT FOR LARGE PART OF WESTERN
KANSAS..

AT 415 PM CDT..RADAR INDICATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER
NORTHWEST KANSAS IN SCOTT COUNTY..ABOUT 30 MILES NORTHWEST OF GARDEN
CITY..AND OTHER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER WALLACE AND LOGAN
COUNTY..20 TO 30 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GOODLAND.

cTHE STORM 20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GOODLAND..SHOWED THE POTENTIAL FOR
HAIL.  THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTH AT 20 MPH AND PERSONS IN EASTERN
SHERMAN COUNTY SHOULD BE ALERT TO THE CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

DORSEY
Special weather statement, May 15, 5:21 PM CDT, 1 hour before
KSZ001-002-152315-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
420 PM MDT (520 PM CDT) WED MAY 15 1991

...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 10PM CDT FOR LARGE PART OF WESTERN
KANSAS...

AT 515 PM CDT..RADAR INDICATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER WESTERN
KANSAS IN AN AREA 25 MILES WIDE THAT EXTENDING FROM SOUTHERN SCOTT
COUNTY..30 MILES NORTHWEST OF GARDEN CITY..TO WESTERN CHEYENNE
COUNTY..30 MILES NORTHWEST OF GOODLAND. THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE OVER
NORTHEAST WICHITA COUNTY..55 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GOODLAND AND IN
NORTHWEST SHERMAN COUNTY ABOUT 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF GOODLAND.

NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED WITH THESE STORMS AS THEY MOVE TO
THE NORTH AT 20 MPH.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 5:56 PM CDTTornado WarningGLDWallace64 min
May 15, 6:29 PM CDTTornado WarningGLDSherman61 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.