Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1995

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 24, NWS Goodland, KS

May 15, 1995Greeley County, Kansas

NWS Goodland, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 15, 1995, 5:58 PM MDT for Greeley County, Kansas. It was in force for 62 min. 2 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, 1995, 5:58 PM MDT (23:58 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 1995, 7:00 PM MDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Goodland, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Greeley County, KS

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 99 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:02 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 15, 6:24 PM MDTTornado F0Greeley, KSBrief tornado over open country reported by spotter.
May 15, 6:35 PM MDTTornado F0Tribune, KSBrief tornado near highway 27 observed by law enforcement.

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, 12.0 hours before the alert went out and 185 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 1995-05-15Temperature 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 1995-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 88 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1296 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
88 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
215 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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 severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Goodland, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 15, 4:47 PM MDT, 1 hour 11 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 15, 4:47 PM MDT, 1 hour 11 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...RETRANSMITTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
147 PM MDT (247 PM CDT) MON MAY 15 1995

MODELS ARE IN PRETTY GOOD AGREEMENT THROUGH SECOND PERIOD WITH SOME
PRETTY IMPRESSIVE DIVERGENCE BEGINING TUE NIGHT. AVN BRINGS IN A BIT
MORE MORE MOISTURE IN THIS AFTERNOON. DEW POINTS ARE SUBSTANTIALLY
HIGHER THAN FWCS WOULD SUGGEST...BUT LATEST ADAP KEEPS DECENT CAP IN
PLACE. DEFINITELY SOME POTENTIAL FOR TRW WITH CAP BREAKING LOCALLY
AND GIVEN CAPES OF AROUND 1500 J/KG AND DECENT HELICITIES WILL HAVE
TO MONITOR ANY STORMS THAT DO FORM VERY CLOSELY.

AS WINDS BECOME DOWNSLOPE LATE TONIGHT INTO TUESDAY...LOW LEVEL
MOISTURE SHOULD TAKE A DIVE. DESPITE COOLING AT MID-LEVELS...
MOISTURE SHOULD BE LIMITED ENOUGH TO DELAY POPS AFTER SECOND PERIOD.
HIGH CLOUDS SHOULD ONCE AGAIN DOMINATE THE REGION TONIGHT AND
TUESDAY AS GRIDDED DATA FROM BOTH ETA AND NGM SHOULD UPPER LEVEL RH
ABOVE 70 PCT THROUGH 00Z WED.

OVERNIGHT TEMRPS SHOULD BE WARM WITH WINDS STAYING UP AND PROGGED 850
TEMPS REMAINING AROUND 20C. WITH WESTERLY COMPONENT TUESDAY...FAVOR
GOING ABOVE TODAYS READINGS IN 80S.

BARKER

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 15, 3:59 PM MDT, 1 hour 59 minutes before
COZ091>092-KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-160100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
358 PM MDT (458 PM CDT) MON MAY 15 1995

...A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR NORTHWEST KANSAS AND PORTIONS
OF EXTREME EASTERN COLORADO UNTIL 11 PM MDT (MIDNIGHT CDT)...

THE NATIONAL SEVERE STORMS FORECAST CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO
WATCH FOR MUCH OF NORTHWEST KANSAS AND EXTREME EASTERN COLORADO
UNTIL 11 PM MDT (MIDNIGHT CDT).

THE FOLLOWING KANSAS COUNTIES ARE UNDER THIS WATCH...CHEYENNE
RAWLINS...DECATUR...SHERIDAN...GRAHAM...SHERMAN...NORTON...THOMAS...
GOVE...WICHITA...GREELEY...WALLACE...AND LOGAN.

THE FOLLOWING COLORADO COUNTIES ARE UNDER THIS WATCH....EASTERN
CHEYENNE AND EASTERN KIT CARSON.

PEOPLE IN NORTHWEST KANSAS AND EXTREME EASTERN COLORADO SHOULD REVIEW
TORNADO SAFETY RULES NOW.  BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER IF A WARNING
IS ISSUED OR A TORNADO IS SPOTTED.

FURTHER INFORMATION ON THIS DEVELOPING SITUATION WILL BE
CONTAINED UNDER WARNINGS...SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENTS...AND SHORT TERM
FORECASTS.

MENTZER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 4:12 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDGreeley63 min
May 15, 5:13 PM MDTTornado WarningGLDGreeley47 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kansas, 1995Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1995

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.