Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 15, NWS Dodge City, KS

May 31, 1996Stevens County, Kansas

NWS Dodge City, KS issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1996, 6:48 PM CDT for Stevens County, Kansas. It was in force for 42 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 31, 1996, 6:48 PM CDT (23:48 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1996, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
42 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 23:49 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 31, 6:53 PM CDTTornado F0Hugoton, KS
May 31, 7:20 PM CDTHail 0.75Hugoton, 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, 11.8 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 1996-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 405 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 12:00Z on 1996-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 171 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDDC 312349
TORDDC
KSC189-010030-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
648 PM CDT FRI MAY 31 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DODGE CITY HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST KANSAS
 
   ...STEVENS COUNTY
 
AT 648 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A
TORNADO 3 MILES SOUTHWEST OF FETERITA MOVING TOWARD THE EAST AT 15 MILES
PER HOUR. THE MOST DANGEROUS PART OF THIS STORM WILL PASS OVER OPEN
COUNTRY IN SOUTHERN STEVENS COUNTY SOUTH OF HUGOTON. HAIL UP TO THE SIZE
OF TENNIS BALLS CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE FETERITA AREA BY 655 PM...AND
LARGE HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED NEAR HUGOTON BY 715 PM.
 
PERSONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM 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 I*NTERIOR 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 31, 4:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCNess, Trego41 min
May 31, 4:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCLane56 min
May 31, 4:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCNess46 min
May 31, 5:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCMorton50 min
May 31, 5:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCScott41 min
May 31, 5:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCNess48 min
May 31, 5:37 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCNess53 min
May 31, 5:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCRush45 min
May 31, 5:48 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCMorton42 min
May 31, 6:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCScott43 min
May 31, 6:15 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCStevens30 min
May 31, 6:25 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCNess, Rush50 min
May 31, 6:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCMorton15 min
May 31, 6:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCGray41 min
May 31, 6:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCLane43 min
May 31, 6:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCLane38 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.