Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Goodland, KS

May 12, 1995Thomas County, Kansas

NWS Goodland, KS issued this tornado warning at May 12, 1995, 2:33 PM CDT for Thomas County, Kansas. It was in force for 32 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 12, 1995, 2:33 PM CDT (19:33 UTC)
Expired
May 12, 1995, 3:05 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Goodland, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Thomas County, KS

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 56 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:34 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 12, 3:12 PM CDTTornado F0Colby, KSBrief tornado observed by ham radio spotter.
May 12, 3:15 PM CDTTornado F2Colby, KSIntermittent tornado damage included farm residence and storage buildings roofs torn off, high voltage electricty towers destroyed,irrigation rigs over-turned, trees snapped. Extensive crop damage from tornado, highs winds, and large hail. Tornado moved nearl

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

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 195 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, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 1995-05-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 1995-05-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 75 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 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
1578 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
75 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
114 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 KGLD 121936 COR
TORGLD
KSC023-181-193-122005-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING...CORRECTED GENERIC CODING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
133 PM MDT (233 PM CDT) FRI MAY 12 1995

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GOODLAND HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 205 PM MDT (305 PM CDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHWEST KANSAS

   ...SOUTHEASTERN CHEYENNE COUNTY KANSAS
   ...NORTHEASTERN SHERMAN COUNTY
   ...NORTHWEST THOMAS COUNTY

AT 231 PM CDT (131 PM MDT)...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS DETECTED BY
GOODLAND DOPPLER RADAR 15 MILES NORTHEAST OF GOODLAND OR 13 MILES
NORTH OF EDSON MOVING EAST AT 23 MPH. THE TORNADO IS CURRENTLY
EXPECTED TO REMAIN OVER RURAL AREAS.

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

GAHAGAN
JJ

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 12, 1:47 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDWichita29 min
May 12, 2:33 PM CDTTornado WarningGLDCheyenne, Sherman19 min
May 12, 3:07 PM CDTTornado WarningGLDThomas33 min
May 12, 3:33 PM CDTTornado WarningGLDThomas32 min
May 12, 3:48 PM CDTTornado WarningGLDSheridan47 min
May 12, 4:38 PM CDTTornado WarningGLDSheridan46 min
May 12, 4:38 PM CDTTornado WarningGLDGraham47 min
May 12, 5:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDCheyenne64 min
May 12, 5:19 PM CDTTornado WarningGLDGraham51 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.