Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Goodland, KS

May 21, 1995Rawlins County, Kansas

NWS Goodland, KS issued this tornado warning at May 21, 1995, 9:43 PM CDT for Rawlins County, Kansas. It was in force for 47 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 21, 1995, 9:43 PM CDT (02:43 UTC)
Expired
May 21, 1995, 10:30 PM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Goodland, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Rawlins County, KS

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 71 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:46 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

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 00:00Z, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 155 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, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 1995-05-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 884 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, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 1995-05-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 136 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
884 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-56 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1104 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
136 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
212 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
3.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGLD 220243
TORGLD
KSC153-220330-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
843 PM MDT (943 PM CDT) SUN MAY 21 1995

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GOODLAND HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 930 PM MDT (1030 PM CDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHWEST KANSAS

   ...NORTHEASTERN RAWLINS COUNTY
 
AT 942 PM CDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS DETECTED BY GOODLAND DOPPLER
RADAR 15 MILES SOUTHEAST OF TRENTON OR 6 MILES NORTHWEST OF HERNDON
MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 11 MPH.

AT PRESENT MOVEMENT THE TORNADO WILL BE AROUND....
  HERNDON                     BY 1018 PM CDT

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR!

ENTWISTLbE

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 21, 8:50 PM CDT, 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 21, 8:50 PM CDT, 53 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
750 PM MDT (850 PM CDT) SUN MAY 21 1995

...GETTING BUSY HERE ATTM...

BIG THUNDERSTORM NOW MOVING VERY CLOSE TO CWA ALONG AXIS OF MOISTURE
CONVERGENCE. THIS STORM TO CONTINUE PUSHING SOUTHEAST INTO THIS AREA
OF MOIST UNSTABLE AIR AND SHOULD KEEP US BUSY FOR NEXT SEVERAL HOURS.

CAN'T SEE ANYTHING TO ARGUE WITH ON CURRENT FORECASTS...AND WILL
THEREFORE RECOMMEND NO CHANGES.

GLD 53/6h8 45  HLC 57/74 45
CBK 54/68 45  MCK 55/70 46
TRB 54/70 45  5C0 53/66 45

TURNER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 21, 9:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDDecatur, Rawlins61 min
May 21, 10:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDDecatur19 min
May 21, 10:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDRawlins14 min
May 22, 12:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDLogan49 min
May 22, 1:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDThomas61 min
May 22, 1:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDLogan36 min
May 22, 1:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDGove50 min
May 22, 1:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDLogan39 min
May 22, 1:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDSheridan65 min
May 22, 2:33 PM CDTTornado WarningGLDGove47 min
May 22, 2:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDSheridan50 min
May 22, 3:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDGraham38 min
May 22, 3:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDGove31 min
May 22, 4:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDSheridan25 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1995Every tornado warning in 1995Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.