Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 13, NWS Dodge City, KS
NWS Dodge City, KS issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1996, 6:15 PM CDT for Stevens County, Kansas. It was in force for 30 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 31, 1996, 6:15 PM CDT (23:15 UTC)
- Expired
- May 31, 1996, 6:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 30 min
- Issued by
- NWS Dodge City, KS
- Area
- Whole counties
County Stevens County, KS
The radar
The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 134 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:14 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 31, 6:53 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Hugoton, 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 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 140 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 405 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -338 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 951 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 30 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 171 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 213 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KDDC 312315 TORDDC KSC189-312345- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS 615 PM CDT FRI MAY 31 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DODGE CITY HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 645 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHWEST KANSAS ...WESTERN STEVENS COUNTY AT 615 PM CDT RADAR AND TRAINED OBSERVERS INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 3 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ROLLA MOVING TOWARD THE EAST-NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH AND WILL PASS SOUTH OF FETERITA BY 635 PM CDT. PERSONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO SHOULD TAKE COVER NOW!! TENNIS BALL-SIZED HAIL WAS REPORTED WITH THIS STORM NEAR ROLLA AT 615 PM. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A STAIRWELL OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT I AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BOD AT ALL TIMES...YOU SHOULD AVOID WINDOWS. &
The office that day
Everything else NWS Dodge City, KS issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 4:04 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Ness, Trego | 41 min |
| May 31, 4:29 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Lane | 56 min |
| May 31, 4:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Ness | 46 min |
| May 31, 5:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Morton | 50 min |
| May 31, 5:19 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Scott | 41 min |
| May 31, 5:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Ness | 48 min |
| May 31, 5:37 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DDC | Ness | 53 min |
| May 31, 5:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Rush | 45 min |
| May 31, 5:48 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DDC | Morton | 42 min |
| May 31, 6:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Scott | 43 min |
| May 31, 6:25 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DDC | Ness, Rush | 50 min |
| May 31, 6:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Morton | 15 min |
| May 31, 6:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Gray | 41 min |
| May 31, 6:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Lane | 43 min |
| May 31, 6:48 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DDC | Stevens | 42 min |
| May 31, 6:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Lane | 38 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.