Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Dodge City, KS

May 8, 1996Edwards County, Kansas

NWS Dodge City, KS issued this tornado warning at May 8, 1996, 8:48 PM CDT for Edwards County, Kansas. It was in force for 32 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 8, 1996, 8:48 PM CDT (01:48 UTC)
Expired
May 8, 1996, 9:20 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Dodge City, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Edwards County, KS

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 59 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:51 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 8, 9:20 PM CDTHail 1.25Belpre, KS

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.

The nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 00:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 53 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 00:00Z on 1996-05-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 564 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 00:00Z on 1996-05-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 104 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
564 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-249 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2811 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
104 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
304 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 KDDC 090148
TORDDC
KSC047-090220-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
848 PM CDT WED MAY 8 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DODGE CITY HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  920 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS
 
   ...SOUTHERN EDWARDS COUNTY
 
AT 848 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 4 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
CENTERVILLE MOVING TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHEAST AT 5 MILES PER HOUR.
PERSONS IN THE FELLSBURG AREA ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM AND SHOULD
TAKE COVER.
 
THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS STORM.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH
OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF AVAILABLE.
OTHERWISE GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE.
AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A STURDIER BUILDING
OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 8, 7:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCStafford45 min
May 8, 7:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCEdwards53 min
May 8, 7:24 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDDCStafford3 hr
May 8, 7:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCStafford64 min
May 8, 7:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCEdwards, Ford, Kiowa66 min
May 8, 8:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCKiowa32 min
May 8, 9:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCEdwards, Pratt, Stafford56 min
May 8, 9:43 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDDCEdwards4 hr
May 8, 10:00 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCPratt30 min
May 8, 10:20 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDDCStafford3 hr
May 8, 10:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCPratt, Stafford46 min
May 9, 5:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCComanche49 min
May 9, 6:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCBarber50 min
May 9, 6:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCPratt33 min
May 9, 6:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCComanche33 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes in 1996

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.