Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Dodge City, KS

May 24, 1996Pratt County, Kansas

NWS Dodge City, KS issued this tornado warning at May 24, 1996, 7:35 PM CDT for Pratt County, Kansas. It was in force for 35 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 24, 1996, 7:35 PM CDT (00:35 UTC)
Expired
May 24, 1996, 8:10 PM CDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Dodge City, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Pratt County, KS

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 109 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:36 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 24, 7:37 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Pratt, 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, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 103 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 1996-05-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 389 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 1996-05-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 112 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
389 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-25 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
949 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
112 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
58 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 250038
TORDDC
KSC151-250110-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
735 PM CDT FRI MAY 24 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DODGE CITY KS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 810 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS

   ...PRATT COUNTY
 
AT 734 PM CDT...A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY A SPOTTER 5 MILES WEST
SOUTHWEST OF PRATT MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

THE TORNADO WILL BE NEAR...
 PRATT                            BY 745 PM CDT
 PRATT COUNTY LAKE                BY 750 PM CDT
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE IN
THE PATH OF 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.

REITER/NICHOLS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 7:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCKiowa38 min
May 24, 7:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCTrego48 min
May 24, 7:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCPratt41 min
May 24, 8:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCStanton48 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.