Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 33, NWS Dodge City, KS

September 18, 1996Seward County, Kansas

NWS Dodge City, KS issued this tornado warning at Sep 18, 1996, 8:26 PM CDT for Seward County, Kansas. It was in force for 29 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
Sep 18, 1996, 8:26 PM CDT (01:26 UTC)
Expired
Sep 18, 1996, 8:55 PM CDT
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Dodge City, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Seward County, KS

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 100 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:30 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
Sep 18, 8:57 PM CDTHail 1Kismet, 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, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 106 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 1996-09-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 760 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 1996-09-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 107 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
760 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
635 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
107 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
174 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
2.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDDC 190127
TORDDC
KSC175-190155-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
826 PM CDT WED SEP 18 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DODGE CITY KS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 855 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHWEST KANSAS

   ...SOUTHERN SEWARD COUNTY
 
AT 825 PM CDT...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY DODGE CITY
DOPPLER RADAR IN THE VICINITY OF LIBERAL MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
  LIBERAL                                     BY 830 PM CDT
  HAYNE                                       BY 845 PM CDT
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE IN
THE PATH OFr THIS DEVELOPING TORNADO...MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND
IF AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

PARKIN/KRUSE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 18, 8:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCGrant, Hamilton, Kearny, Stanton54 min
Sep 18, 8:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCMorton49 min
Sep 18, 9:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCSeward33 min
Sep 18, 9:05 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCSeward35 min
Sep 18, 9:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFinney, Haskell60 min
Sep 18, 9:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCGrant33 min
Sep 18, 10:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCStevens35 min
Sep 18, 10:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCSeward61 min
Sep 18, 10:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCHaskell34 min
Sep 18, 10:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCGray64 min
Sep 18, 11:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCMeade51 min
Sep 18, 11:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFord35 min
Sep 19, 12:59 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCPawnee31 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.