Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Hastings, NE

June 6, 1996Mitchell County, Osborne County, Kansas

NWS Hastings, NE issued this tornado warning at Jun 6, 1996, 5:38 AM CDT for Mitchell County, Osborne County, Kansas. It was in force for 37 min. 7 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
Jun 6, 1996, 5:38 AM CDT (10:38 UTC)
Expired
Jun 6, 1996, 6:15 AM CDT
In force
37 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 10:40 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
Jun 6, 5:40 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 75Osborne, KS
Jun 6, 5:40 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 68Tipton, KS
Jun 6, 5:40 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 65Cawker City, KS
Jun 6, 5:45 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 68Downs, KS
Jun 6, 5:45 AM CDTHail 1.25Osborne, KS
Jun 6, 6:00 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 60Osborne, KS
Jun 6, 6:15 AM CDTHail 1.75Beloit, 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, 10.6 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 1996-06-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1515 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 1996-06-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 6 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
1515 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-151 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2646 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
173 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGRI 061039 RRA
TORGRI
KSC123-141-061115-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
538 AM CDT THU JUN 6 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HASTINGS NE  HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS
 
   ...WESTERN MITCHELL COUNTY...NORTHEASTERN OSBORNE COUNTY
 
PERSONS IN DOWNS...WACONDA AND CAWKER CITY SHOULD GO TO THEIR TORNADO
SHELTERS IMMEDIATELY!
 
AT 530 AM CDT...HASTINGS DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO
4 MILES SOUTH OF PORTIS OR 33 MILES SOUTHEAST OF PHILLIPSBURG. THE STORM
CONTAINING THE TORNADO IS MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.
 
THE STORM WILL MOVE THROUGH DOWNS AT 540 AM...CAWKER CITY BETWEEN 550
AND 600 AM AND INTO GLEN ELDER BY 615 AM.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM! GET TO SHELTER IMMEDIATELY!
 
 
PERSONS IN THE WARNED AREA SHOULD TAKE SHELTER IN A BASEMENT IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE GO TO A SMALL INTERI(OR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR.  CARS AND MOBILE HOMES SHOULD BE ABANDONED.
 
 
BREWSTER/GURNEY

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 Jun 6, 3:06 AM CDT, 2 hours 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 6, 3:06 AM CDT, 2 hours 32 minutes before
CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
259 AM CDT THU JUN 6 1996

...TIMING OF END OF PCPN TODAY BIGGEST CONCERN ATTM...

EVE UA ANALYS INDCTD H5 S/WV TROF SLICING THROUGH CENTRAL WY WITH 100KT
JETLET IN SUPPORT AT H3. LINES OF CONVECTION ON KLNX AND KUEX ASSOC WITH
SYS ERLY THIS AM...BUT THANKFULLY CWA UNDER RATHER STRONG INFLUENCE OF
MESO HI PRES AND MOST OF SVR WX MEETING ITS MAKER ON OUR DOORSTEP. WILL
KEEP FINGERS X. H20 VAP LOOP ALSO SHOWING MIDLEVEL S/WV DIGGING OVER
NORTHERN TIER WITH MODELS IN AGREEMENT OF SWINGING IT GRDLY THRU CWA BY
LATE THIS PM. GUD NVA NOT STRONG IN AREA UNTIL TONIGHT...THUS WILL
BREAK OUT CLDS WEST MID PM WITH LINGERING CLDNS EAST.  SCT TRW+ FOR WEST
SHUD END BEFORE 9 AM WITH EAST LOSING PRECIP CHCS AROUND NOON BASED ON
POSN OF NGM VORT POSN AT 18Z. WITH COLD POOL ASSOC WITH TROF SLIPPING
TO AREA THIS PM...MSTLY CLDY TDY SEEMS IN ORDER WITH PSBL INSTAB RW THIS
AFTERNOON. ALSO...MEAN RH VALUES ON MODELS REMAIN ABOVE 60 PCT INTO THE
PM WHICH FITS WITH UPSTREAM OBS ASSOC WITH TROF.

LITTLE TIME TO CHECK MUCH ELSE OUT GIVEN CURR WX...BUT FWC TEMPS LOOK ON
TRAK WITH HI PRES BUILDING IN SFC AND ALFT TON WITH DRIER AIR.
THICKNESS AND H8 TEMPS TAKE SOME TIME RECOVERING BEHIND TROF...THUS
TEMPS FRI LUK ON TRAK OR A COUPLE DEGS HIER THAN TDY WITH BETTER SOLAR
INSOLATION FRI.

GRI 077/052 50     HBR 077/052  5-
ODX 076/050 40     BLT 078/053  5-
LXN 077/049 40

BREWSTER

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 6, 5:26 AM CDT, 12 minutes before
NEZ060-072-073-074-082-083-084-085-086-061115-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
526 AM CDT THU JUN 6 1996

...TORNADO WATCH #565 CANCELLED FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA...

ALTHOUGH SCATTERED RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH MID
MORNING THE THREAT FOR TORNADOES HAS ENDED ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL
NEBRASKA AND THE TORNADO WATCH VALID UNTIL 6 AM CDT HAS BEEN CANCELLED
FOR DAWSON...FURNAS...FRANKLIN...GOSPER...HARHLAN...PHELPS...KEARNEY...
NUCKOLLS AND WEBSTER COUNTIES.

BREWSTER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 6, 4:13 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDPhillips62 min
Jun 6, 4:56 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDRooks, Smith49 min
Jun 6, 5:12 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDOsborne33 min
Jun 6, 5:48 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDOsborne, Rooks27 min
Jun 6, 6:06 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDMitchell39 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.