Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 30, NWS Dodge City, KS

August 2, 1996Ford County, Kansas

NWS Dodge City, KS issued this tornado warning at Aug 2, 1996, 9:15 PM CDT for Ford County, Kansas. It was in force for 45 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
Aug 2, 1996, 9:15 PM CDT (02:15 UTC)
Expired
Aug 2, 1996, 10:00 PM CDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Dodge City, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Ford County, KS

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 10 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:16 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
Aug 2, 9:47 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Dodge City, 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, 2.3 hours before the alert went out and 9 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 1996-08-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4150 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 1996-08-03The 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
4150 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
933 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
136 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
327 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
7.9
Supercell composite
29.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDDC 030215
TORDDC
KSC057-030300-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
915 PM CDT FRI AUG 2 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DODGE CITY HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHWEST KANSAS
 
   ...FORD COUNTY
 
AT 914 PM A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED OVER CENTRAL FORD
COUNTY...NEAR DODGE CITY. WINDS WERE GUSTING TO 58 MPH AT THE DODGE CITY
AIRPORT. EXPECT STRONG THUNDERSTORM WINDS OF 60 MPH OR GREATER TO AFFECT
MUCH OF FORD COUNTY THROUGH 945 PM.
 
 
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.  OTHERWI
GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID
WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A STURDIER BUILDING OR GE
 
 
MCAVOY
 
 
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 2, 7:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCEllis, Rush45 min
Aug 2, 7:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCRush46 min
Aug 2, 8:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCPawnee64 min
Aug 2, 8:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCHodgeman, Ness47 min
Aug 2, 8:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCPratt, Stafford54 min
Aug 2, 8:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCLane50 min
Aug 2, 9:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCHodgeman43 min
Aug 2, 9:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCEdwards53 min
Aug 2, 9:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCPawnee34 min
Aug 2, 9:15 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDDCFord45 min
Aug 2, 9:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFord60 min
Aug 2, 9:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFinney, Gray68 min
Aug 2, 9:38 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCFord, Gray37 min
Aug 2, 9:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCPratt, Stafford48 min
Aug 2, 9:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCLane45 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.