Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1993

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Goodland, KS

May 5, 1993Finney County, Scott County, Kansas

NWS Goodland, KS issued this tornado warning at May 5, 1993, 10:16 PM CDT for Finney County, Scott County, Kansas. It was in force for 44 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
May 5, 1993, 10:16 PM CDT (03:16 UTC)
Expired
May 5, 1993, 11:00 PM CDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Goodland, KS
Area
Whole counties

Counties Finney County, KS, Scott County, KS

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 93 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:20 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 5, 10:30 PM CDTTornado F1Scott City, KSA tornado touched down briefly south of Scott City. A mobile home was pushed 200 yards off its foundation. Two sheriff's patrol cars were blown off the road.

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, 3.3 hours before the alert went out and 98 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 1993-05-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2248 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 1993-05-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 20 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
2248 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-123 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
946 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
1 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
57 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 060317
TORDDC
KSC055-171-060400-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
1016 PM CDT WED MAY 5 1993
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DODGE CITY HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST KANSAS
 
   ...NORTHWESTERN FINNEY COUNTY
 
IN WEST CENTRAL KANSAS
 
   ...SCOTT COUNTY
 
AT 1016 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF
GARDEN CITY MOVING NORTH AT AROUND 15 MILES AN HOUR. IT WILL PASS NEAR
FRIEND AND TENNIS BY 1030 PM AND REACH THE SHALLOW WATER AREA JUST
BEFORE 1100 PM CDT. IT WILL REACH SCOTT CITY AROUND 1100 PM CDT.
 
TAKE COVER NOW!!!!  IT IS NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE TO SEE A TORANDO IN THE DARK
SO DON'T TRY TO LOOK FOR IT!!!
 
GET TO A BASEMENT IF ONE IS AVAILABLE.  IF YOU LIVE IN A HOME OR
APARTMENT... SEEK SHELTER IN THE INNERMOST PORTION OF THE
BUILDING ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. AVOID WINDOWS bAND PROTECT YOUR BODY
FROM FLYING DEBRIS WITH CUSHIONS...BLANKETS...OR PILLOWS.

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 5, 5:13 PM CDT, 5 hours 3 minutes before
KSZ001-002-004-005-052315-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
414 PM MDT (514 PM CDT) WED MAY 5 1993

...A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR MOST OF NORTHWEST KANSAS
UNTIL 11 PM MDT (MIDNIGHT CDT)...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR THE
WESTERN PORTION OF NORTHWEST KANSAS.  THE WATCH IS IN EFFECT
GENERALLY WEST OF A LINE FROM 18 MILES NORTHWEST OF NORTON TO 12
MILES NORTHWEST OF WAKEENEY.  NO PRECIPITATION IS CURRENTLY BEING
DETECTED WITHIN THE WATCH AREA...HOWEVER CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE
FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHWESTERN KANSAS LATER
THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING.

BARKER
Special weather statement, May 5, 6:11 PM CDT, 4 hours 5 minutes before
KSZ001-002-004-005-060015-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
515 PM MDT (615 PM CDT) WED MAY 5 1993

...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM MDT (MIDNIGHT CDT) FOR
MOST OF NORTHWEST KANSAS...

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHWEST KANSAS UNTIL 11 PM MDT.
THE WATCH IS WEST OF A LINE FROM 18 MILES NORTHWEST OF NORTON TO 12
MILES NORTHWEST OF WAKEENEY.  AT 512 PM MDT NO STORMS WERE DETECTED BY
RADAR IN NORTHWEST KANSAS...HOWEVER CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE
DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING.

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN NORTHEAST COLORADO ABOUT 45 MILES
NORTHWEST OF GOODLAND MOVING NORTH AT 35 MPH.  THESE STORMS ARE NOT
EXhPECTED TO MOVE INTO NORTHWEST KANSAS.

GAHAGAN
Special weather statement, May 5, 6:56 PM CDT, 3 hours 20 minutes before
KSZ001-002-004-005-060100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
559 PM MDT (659 PM CDT) WED MAY 5 1993

...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHWEST UNTIL 11 PM
MDT(MIDNIGHT CDT)...

AT 655 PM CDT THUNDERSTORMS WERE BEGINNING TO DEVELOP RAPIDLY ACROSS
NORTHWEST KANSAS.  RADAR INDICATED STORMS ALONG THE KANSAS/COLORADO
BORDER JUST WEST OF ST. FRANCIS 30 MILES NORTHWEST OF GOODLAND THROUGH
SHARON SPRINGS TO JUST EAST OF TRIBUNE 60 MILES SOUTH OF GOODLAND.
THESE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTH AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

ANOTHER VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 25 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SCOTT
CITY...15 MILES SOUTH OF LEOTI MOVING NORTH AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.  THIS
STOvRM HAS PRODUCED GOLF BALL SIZED HAIL IN ULYSSES.  THIS STORM WILL MOVOVER LEOTI BY 730 PM CDT.

GAHAGAN

&
Special weather statement, May 5, 9:48 PM CDT, 28 minutes before
KSZ001-002-004-005-060345-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
847 PM MDT (947 PM CDT) WED MAY 5 1993

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM MDT (MIDNIGHT CDT) FOR
NORTHWEST KANSAS.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR RAWLINS COUNTY HAS EXPIRED AS OF 845
MDT (945 CDT).  THE STORM HAS MOVED INTO SOUTHERN NEBRASKA AND NO LONGER
THREATENS RAWLINS COUNTY.

AT 845 MDT RADAR INDICATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTHERN LOGAN
COUNTY FROM JUST SOUTH OF OAKLEY TO 20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF SCOTT CITY
MOVING NORTH AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.  AT THIS TIME NO SEVERE WEATHER WAS
INDICATED..HOWEVER CONDITIONS ARE STILL FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP OVER NORTHWEST KANSAS.  PLEASE STAY TUNED TO
NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR COMMERCIAL RADIO OR TELEVISION STATIONS FOR FURTHEUPDATES.

GAHAGAN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 5, 7:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDSherman, Wallace60 min
May 5, 7:28 PM CDTTornado WarningGLDWichita47 min
May 5, 7:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDCheyenne44 min
May 5, 8:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDSherman42 min
May 5, 8:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDRawlins68 min
May 6, 7:22 AM CDTTornado WarningGLDGreeley68 min
May 6, 7:57 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDSherman63 min
May 6, 8:03 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDWallace42 min
May 6, 10:11 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDLogan64 min
May 6, 12:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDGove32 min
May 6, 1:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDRooks60 min
May 6, 1:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDEllis27 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1993Every tornado warning in 1993Tornadoes in 1993

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.