Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Wichita, KS

June 5, 1994Ellsworth County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at Jun 5, 1994, 5:18 PM CDT for Ellsworth County, Kansas. It was in force for 42 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 5, 1994, 5:18 PM CDT (22:18 UTC)
Expired
Jun 5, 1994, 6:00 PM CDT
In force
42 min
Issued by
NWS Wichita, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Ellsworth County, KS

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 134 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:21 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 180 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 1994-06-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1805 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 1994-06-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 279 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
1805 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-405 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1485 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
279 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
320 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KICT 052220
TORICT
KSC053-052300-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
518 PM CDT SUN JUN 5 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  600 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN CENTRAL KANSAS
 
   ...SOUTHERN ELLSWORTH COUNTY
 
AT 518 PM A TORNADO WAS REPORTED AT LORRAINE.
 
IT WAS MOVING EAST AT 10 MILES AN HOUR.
 
PEOPLE IN THE LORRAINE AREA SHOULD GO TO THEIR TORNADO SHELTERS
IMMEDIATELY.
 
 
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO
TO A STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A
TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF NOz
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.
 
 
CLC
&

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, Jun 5, 11:25 AM CDT, 5 hours 53 minutes before
KSZ032-033-047>053-067>073-082-083-091>101-060600-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KANSAS
1125 AM CDT SUN JUN 5 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 WEAK SLOW-MOVING COLD FRONT WILL ENTER CENTRAL AND NORTH-CENTRAL
KANSAS THIS AFTERNOON INTO A VERY MOIST...VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS. HOWEVER...
UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS LACKING. THEREFORE
THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD ONLY BE ISOLATED AND CONFINED TO LATE AFTERNOON TO
EARLY EVENING.
ES
Special weather statement, Jun 5, 11:31 AM CDT, 5 hours 47 minutes before
KSZ032-033-047>053-067>073-082-083-091>101-060600-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KANSAS
1125 AM CDT SUN JUN 5 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 WEAK SLOW-MOVING COLD FRONT WILL ENTER CENTRAL AND NORTH-CENTRAL
KANSAS THIS AFTERNOOdN INTO A VERY MOIST...VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS. HOWEVER...
UPPER LEVEL SUPPORT FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS LACKING. THEREFORE
THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD ONLY BE ISOLATED AND CONFINED TO LATE AFTERNOON TO
EARLY EVENING.
ES

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 5, 3:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTBarton55 min
Jun 5, 5:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTEllsworth58 min
Jun 5, 5:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTRice59 min
Jun 5, 6:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMcPherson, Marion67 min
Jun 5, 6:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTReno39 min
Jun 5, 6:41 PM CDTTornado WarningICTMarion49 min
Jun 5, 6:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMarion47 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.