Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Wichita, KS

April 9, 1994Harper County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at Apr 9, 1994, 4:59 PM CDT for Harper County, Kansas. It was in force for 61 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 9, 1994, 4:59 PM CDT (21:59 UTC)
Expired
Apr 9, 1994, 6:00 PM CDT
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Wichita, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Harper County, KS

The nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 173 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 1994-04-09Temperature 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 1994-04-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 372 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
720 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
61 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
372 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
491 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 KICT 092201
TORICT
KSC077-092300-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
459 PM CDT SAT APR 9 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS
 
   ...HARPER COUNTY
 
AT 5 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO LOCATED 6 MILES SOUTH
OF ATTICA...OR 20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF MEDICINE LODGE MOVING NORTHEAST AT
25 MILES AN HOUR. CITIES IN THE PATH OF THIS POTENTIAL TORNADO
INCLUDE...HARPER...DANVILLE...AND RUNNYMEDE.
 
 
THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS STORM.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE IN THE
PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IXF 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.
 
 
JC

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 9, 11:42 AM CDT, 5 hours 17 minutes before
KSZ032-033-047>053-067>073-082-083-091>101-100500-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KANSAS
1140 AM CDT FRI APR 8 1994

THIS OUTLOOK PERTAINS TO THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN CENTRAL KANSAS:

BARTON      COWLEY      HARVEY      MARION      RENO        SEDGWICK
BUTLER      ELLSWORTH   KINGMAN     MC PHERSON  RUSSELL     SUMNER
CHASE       HARPER      LINCOLN     RICE        SALINE

AND IN SOUTHEAST KANSAS:

ALLEN       CHEROKEE    GREENWOOD    NEOSHO
BOURBON     CRAWFORD    LABETTE      WILSON
CHAUTAUQUA  ELK         MONTGOMERY   WOODSON

SYNOPSIS: A NEARLY STATIONARY FRONT IS FORECAST TO LYE ALONG THE
KANSAS/OKLAHOMA BORDER THROUGH THIS EVENING AS LOW PRESSURE DEEPENS
OVER THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE. AT THE SAME TIME...A STRONG UPPER LEVEL
DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE INTO THE KANSAS REGION...SETTING OFF ANOTHER
ROUND OF STRONG AND POSSIBLY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON
...LASTING INTO THE EVENING.

THE STRONGEST STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP MAINLY SOUTH OF A LINE
FROM KINGMAN TO WICHITA TO FORT SCOTT. THE MAIN WEATHER THREAT WILL BE
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING
ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS.

OGREN
Special weather statement, Apr 9, 3:28 PM CDT, 1 hour 31 minutes before
KSC015-019-035-049-073-077-095-173-191-092230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
325 PM CDT SAT APR 9 1994

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PART OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND
SOUTHEAST KANSAS UNTIL 10 PM CDT...

AT 320 PM CDT...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSHOWERS WERE SCATTERED MAINLY NORTH
OF A LINE FROM PRATT TO EMPORIA. HOWEVER...MUCH STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS
ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP THROUGH THE REST OF THE AFTERNOON AND EVENING
ACROSS SOUTHERN KANSAS.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE
DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES. IF YOU LIVE IN OR
NEAR THE WATCH AREA...BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY IF
HAZARDOUS WEATHER APPROACHES OR A WARNING IS ISSUED.

OGREN
Special weather statement, Apr 9, 4:18 PM CDT, 41 minutes before
KSZ082-091-092315-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
416 PM CDT SAT APR 9 1994

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM FOR A LARGE PART
OF SOUTHEAST AND SOUTHCENTRAL KANSAS...

AT 415 PM... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED WIDELY
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHEAST AND SOUTH CENTRAL
KANSAS.

ONE STRONG STORM WAS LOCATED AROUND 20 MILES SOUTH OF MEDICINE
LODGE... MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. THIS STORM
WILL MOVE BETWEEN ZENDA AND ATTICA BY 500 PM.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM... BE READY TO MOVE TO SAFE
SHELTER IF THREATENING WEATHER IS OBSERVED.

CAMPBELL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 9, 4:46 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSumner26 min
Apr 9, 5:10 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTCowley45 min
Apr 9, 6:11 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTChautauqua19 min
Apr 9, 6:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTCowley30 min
Apr 9, 4:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTHarper63 min
Apr 9, 5:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSumner62 min
Apr 9, 6:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSumner55 min
Apr 9, 6:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSedgwick43 min
Apr 9, 6:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTHarper, Kingman68 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1994Every tornado warning in 1994Tornadoes in 1994

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.