Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 15, NWS Goodland, KS

May 16, 1995Greeley County, Kansas

NWS Goodland, KS issued this tornado warning at May 16, 1995, 9:17 PM MDT for Greeley County, Kansas. It was in force for 48 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 16, 1995, 9:17 PM MDT (03:17 UTC)
Expired: May 16, 1995, 10:05 PM MDT
In force: 48 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 03:27 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 16, 9:45 PM MDT	Tornado F0	Whitelaw, KS	Brief tornado over open country.

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 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 3022 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -33 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1366 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 28 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: -0.1
Supercell composite: -1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGLD 170319
TORGLD
KSC071-170405-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
917 PM MDT TUE MAY 16 1995

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GOODLAND HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1005 PM MDT (1105 PM CDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN WEST CENTRAL KANSAS

   ...NORTHERN GREELEY COUNTY
 
AT 915 PM MDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS DETECTED BY GOODLAND DOPPLER
RADAR 18 MILES NORTHWEST OF TRIBUNE OR 17 MILES NORTHWEST OF HORACE
MOVING EAST AT 29 MPH. THE TORNADO IS CURRENTLY EXPECTED TO REMAIN
OVER RURAL AREAS.  THIS WARNING SUPERSEDES AND REPLACES THE PRIOR
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR NORTHERN GREELEY COUNTY.

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A S$MALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR!

VJN

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.

NWS Goodland, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at May 16, 7:46 PM MDT, 1 hour 31 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 16, 7:46 PM MDT, 1 hour 31 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
746 PM MDT (846 PM CDT) TUE MAY 16 1995

DISCUSSION:  GLD 88-D REFLECTIVITY DATA INDCS A MORE GEN AREA OF
SHWRS AND TSTMS APCHNG OUR CWA FM E CNTRL CO.  WOULD XPC A FEW SVR
TSTMS THIS EVE WITH THIS COMPLEX AS IT MOVES INTO XTRM ERN CO AND
SRN NW KS COUNTIES.  CHCS OF SVR STMS SHOULD DCR LTR THIS EVE AS
THE NOCTURNAL COOLING FACTOR BCMS A GREATER FACTOR.

GLD  49/55  78  HLC  53/58  78
CBK  51/56  78  MCK  50/55  78
TRB  51/58  78  5C0  47/52  67

VJN

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 16, 4:48 PM MDT, 4 hours 29 minutes before

KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-170350-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
447 PM MDT (547 PM CDT) TUE MAY 16 1995

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR WALLACE...LOGAN...GOVE...GREELEY
AND WICHITA COUNTIES OF NORTHWEST KANSAS...

THE SEVERE STORMS FORECAST CENTER IN KANSAS CITY MISSOURI HAS ISSUED
A TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 10 PM MDT (11 PM CDT) FOR SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF
NORTHWEST KANSAS.

GOODLAND DOPPLER RADAR DOES NOT YET SHOW ANY THUNDERSTORMS IN THE
WATCH AREA.  THUNDERSTORMS IN THE WATCH AREA NOT REACHING SEVERE
LIMITS WILL BE DISCUSSED IN SHORT TERM FORECASTS.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS THAT TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE IN
AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA.  LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS MAY ALSO
OCCUR.  BE READY TO MOVE TO A BASEMENT OR STORM CELLAR IF A WARNING
IS ISSUED FOR YOUR AREA.

VJN

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 16, 9:06 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	GLD	Gove	64 min
May 16, 9:09 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GLD	Greeley, Wallace	66 min
May 16, 9:39 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GLD	Logan, Thomas	61 min
May 16, 10:04 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GLD	Greeley	43 min
May 16, 10:06 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GLD	Logan	64 min
May 16, 10:08 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GLD	Wallace	39 min
May 16, 10:21 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	GLD	Wichita	35 min
May 16, 10:39 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GLD	Gove, Sheridan	61 min
May 16, 11:26 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GLD	Logan	20 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1995 Every tornado warning in 1995 Tornadoes 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.