Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1991
Tornado Warning 26, NWS Wichita, KS
NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at Apr 26, 1991, 7:05 PM CDT for Cowley County, Elk County, Kansas. It was in force for 40 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
- Apr 26, 1991, 7:05 PM CDT (00:05 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 26, 1991, 7:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 40 min
- Issued by
- NWS Wichita, KS
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Cowley County, KS, Elk County, KS
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 26, 7:26 PM CDT | Tornado F3 | Elk, 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
Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 200 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- NaN m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 79 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 409 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 485 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 17.2
The text
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
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, Apr 26, 1:16 PM CDT, 5 hours 49 minutes before
KSZ009-011-012-014-017-261915- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS 112 PM CDT FRI APR 26 1991 ...TORNADO WATCH FOR SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS UNTIL 8 PM... THE WEATHER SITUATION OVER KANSAS IS TENSE THIS AFTERNOON. THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER IS HIGH. EARLIER THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY OVER SOUTHEAST KANSAS WAS LOCATED ABOUT 20 MILES NORTHEAST OF CHANUTE...AND HAD WEAKENED CONSIDERABLY. THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR SOUTHEAST KANSAS IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT. AT 100 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED NEW THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT ALONG A LINE FROM 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF SALINA...TO 35 MILES NORTHWEST OF HUTCHINSON. THIS NEW AREA IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE DEVELOPING SOUTHWARD...AND INTENSIFY RAPIDLY. THIS IS WHERE THE PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER THREAT WILL BEGIN...AND SPREAD EASTWARD AT ABOUT 20 MPH. CONTINUE TO MONITOR LOCAL TELEVISION OR RADIO STATIONS...AND NOAA WEATHER RADIO...FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THE SEVER E WEATHER THREAT. HEDGES
Special weather statement, Apr 26, 1:42 PM CDT, 5 hours 23 minutes before
KSZ009-011-012-014-017-261945- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS 139 PM CDT FRI APR 26 1991 ...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY OVER CENTRAL KANSAS... AT 133 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY OVER CENTRAL KANSAS. THE STRONGEST STORM WAS LOCATED 20 MILES NORTHWEST OF SALINA...AND HAS PROMPTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR OTTAWA COUNTY OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS. ANOTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPED RAPIDLY ABOUT 30 MILES WEST OF ANTHONY. THIS STORM WILL LIKELY PRODUCE SEVERE WEATHER WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER OVER CENTRAL KANSAS IS HIGH. A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR CENTRAL KANSAS UNTIL 8 PM. SEVERE WEATHER CAN DEVELOP RAPIDLY. KEEP AN EYE ON THE SKY...AND MONITOR LOCAL RADIO AND TELEVISION STATIONS FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION ON THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT. HEDGES z
The office that day
Everything else NWS Wichita, KS issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 26, 7:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Chase | 59 min |
| Apr 26, 7:17 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Butler | 43 min |
| Apr 26, 7:26 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Chase, Greenwood | 49 min |
| Apr 26, 7:36 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Greenwood | 54 min |
| Apr 26, 7:41 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Elk | 49 min |
| Apr 26, 7:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Chautauqua, Montgomery | 44 min |
| Apr 26, 7:59 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Elk, Greenwood | 31 min |
| Apr 26, 8:04 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Sedgwick | 41 min |
| Apr 26, 8:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Montgomery | 47 min |
| Apr 26, 8:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Sumner | 44 min |
| Apr 26, 8:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Wilson, Woodson | 57 min |
| Apr 26, 8:23 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Greenwood | 37 min |
| Apr 26, 8:30 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Sedgwick | 36 min |
| Apr 26, 8:57 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Wilson, Woodson | 58 min |
| Apr 26, 9:17 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Labette, Montgomery | 58 min |
| Apr 26, 10:13 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Labette, Montgomery | 32 min |
| Apr 27, 12:06 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Bourbon | 24 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.