Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Hastings, NE

July 3, 1996Mitchell County, Osborne County, Kansas

NWS Hastings, NE issued this tornado warning at Jul 3, 1996, 7:45 PM CDT for Mitchell County, Osborne County, Kansas. It was in force for 45 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: Jul 3, 1996, 7:45 PM CDT (00:45 UTC)
Expired: Jul 3, 1996, 8:30 PM CDT
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Hastings, NE
Area: Whole counties

Counties Mitchell County, KS, Osborne County, KS

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 106 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:46 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
Jul 3, 8:10 PM CDT	Hail 3	Downs, KS
Jul 3, 8:30 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 70	Osborne, 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, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 216 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 706 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -81 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2883 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 7 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 85 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGRI 040046
TORGRI
KSC123-141-040130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
745 PM CDT WED JUL 3 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HASTINGS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 830 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS

   ...WESTERN MITCHELL COUNTY
   ...EASTERN OSBORNE COUNTY
 
PERSONS IN DOWNS...CAWKER CITY...PORTIS AND OSBORNE SHOULD GET TO
THEIR TORNADO SHELTERS IMMEDIATELY!

AT 742 PM CDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT
OFFICIALS 44 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF PHILLIPSBURG OR 3 MILES NORTH OF
DOWNS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 17 MPH.

TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
   DOWNS                        AROUND 755 PM CDT

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN
PRODUCE TORNADOES.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IN A HOME OR
BUSINESS IS AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID
WINDOWS.

BREWSTER

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Jul 3, 2:12 PM CDT, 5 hours 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 3, 2:12 PM CDT, 5 hours 33 minutes before

CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
215 PM CDT WED JUL 3 1996

...PRBLM WILL BE STORMS...TEMPS TOMR AS CLDS FROM PSBL MCS MAY NOT BE
OUT OF AREA TIL NOONISH...

LINE HAS HELD TOGETHER TODAY AND IS PROGRESSING THROUGH NRN CNTYS ATT.
SOME INTENSIFICATION NOTED IN PAST HOUR PER LDS...AND KUEX/KLNX 88DS.
THIS IS MAINLY TO NE OF CWA BUT TRENDS ARE SWRD. WITH PLENTLY OF SUN
AND INCRG MOISTURE TO THE SOUTH OF LINE...THIS TREND SHOULD CONTINUE.

STORMS TO SPREAD ACROSS AREA THIS AFTN AND EVENING AND WITH SOME DVLPMT
TO THE NORTH...EVEN NORTH CNTYS TO HAVE WDLY SCT ACTIVITY INTO EVENING.
THINGS WILL CALM DOWN FOR A TIME BEFORE NEXT SYS FORMS ON HI PLAINS AND
DIVES FOR US AFTER MIDNIGHT. WILL WORD SCT TRWS THIS EVENING AND AGAIN
LATE TONIGHT.

FOR TOMR...SOUTH PERIPHERY OF CNTYS SHOULD BE ON BACK SIDE OF MCS THRU
SUNRISE OR EVEN TO MID MORNING. RIDGE BUILDS A BIT STRONGER NEWRD AND
NEXT SYS TOMR AFTN/EVE SHOULD STAY AWAY FROM AREA.

AFTER THAT...RUILD IS FLATTENED BY SYSTEMS ROTATING THRU SO BETTER CHC
TRWS INTO FRI NIGHT AND THE WEEKEND.

AS FOR TEMPS...WILL FOLLOW PRETTY CLOSE TO GUIDANCE.

GRI 066/091 54       LXN 063/095 33
ODX 062/092 52       HEB 067/090 55
BLT 068/094 34

GURNEY

The office that day

Everything else NWS Hastings, NE issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 3, 7:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Jewell, Smith	45 min
Jul 3, 8:31 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GID	Osborne	29 min
Jul 3, 11:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Phillips	50 min
Jul 4, 12:03 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Phillips	42 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1996 Every tornado warning in 1996 Tornadoes 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.