Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 263, NWS Goodland, KS

August 4, 1996Graham County, Kansas

NWS Goodland, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 4, 1996, 8:10 PM CDT for Graham County, Kansas. It was in force for 65 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 4, 1996, 8:10 PM CDT (01:10 UTC)
Expired
Aug 4, 1996, 9:15 PM CDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Goodland, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Graham County, KS

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 156 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:14 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 4, 8:30 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Hill 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, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 176 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 1996-08-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2545 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 1996-08-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 145 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
2545 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-32 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1799 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
145 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
210 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
8.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

What forecasters said that day

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

NWS Goodland, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Aug 4, 2:02 PM CDT, 6 hours 8 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 4, 2:02 PM CDT, 6 hours 8 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
102 PM MDT (202 PM CDT) SUN AUG 4 1996

SHRT TERM CHALLENGE WILL DEFINITELY BE SVR WX CHCS LT THIS AFT
INTO TNGT.  ETA GRIDDED DATA INDCS STRONG H7-H4 Q-VEC CNVRG BGNG
OVR NE CO AND SPREADING ACROSS MOST OF THE CWA BY EVE WITH
ACCOMPANYING LLVL MOISTURE CNVRG.  FEEL ATTM...SPC MAY EXTEND ITS
MODERATE AND SLIGHT RISKS FTHR S AND SLIGHTLY WEST INTO OUR CWA AS
CAPE VALUES TO 4000 J AND MORE FAVORABLE WND PROFILES DVLP LTR TDA.
INCRNG MID AND UPR LVL WNDS WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE LARGEST HELICITY
INCREASES OVR OUR AREA...ALTHOUGH ...AS SFC LOW DEEPENS MORE OVR WRN
KS BY EVE...WNDS SHOULD BACK AT THE SFC...GIVING MORE LLVL CYCLONIC
TURNING....SPCLY NERN COUNTIES. ATTM WILL WEIGHT HIER POPS TNGT
ACROSS NE COUNTIES AND CALL FOR SOME STMS SVR WITH LARGE HAIL AS IT
JUST IS A MATTER OF TM BEFORE OTHER WATCHES ARE ISSUED.

IN THE OUT PERIODS...MODELS CONT TO FLIP FLOP ON THE AMOUNT OF
COOLING XPCD BEHIND THE FNT.  LTST ETA AND SPCLY THE NGM NOW INDC
HI TEMPS RECOVERING QUICKLY ON MONDAY AS THE FNT BEGINS TO WASH OUT
ACROSS CENTRAL KS.  ATTM...WILL LKLY GO WITH TEMPS 1 CAT LWR THAN
THIS MORNINGS FWC...MNLY DUE XPCD NRLY SFC WNDS BEHIND THE FNT AND
GROUNDS THAT WILL LKLY BE MOISTENED AGN BY ADDITIONAL RNFL TNGT.
WITH GD MID AND UPR LVL SUBSIDENCE XPCD ON MONDAY...SEE NO REASON
FOR POPS ON MONDAY AND MONDAY NGT.  WILL LEAVE POPS OUT ON TUE GVN
THAT ITS 4TH PD AND SEE LTL FORCING TO RESULT IN PRECIP ATTM.
HIGHS ON TUE SHOULD RECOVER CLSR TO FWC HIGHS.  SEE CCF PTN FOR
POP AND TEMP DETAILS.

GLD 61/88/63/93 500    HLC 67/92/69/95 610
CBK 63/89/66/94 5-0    MCK 64/89/67/92 610
TRB 63/91/64/95 400    ITR 59/87/62/91 400

VJN

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 4, 6:12 PM CDT, 1 hour 58 minutes before
KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-050520-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
514 PM MDT (614 PM CDT) SUN AUG 4 1996

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS POSTED FOR ALL OF NORTHWEST
KANSAS UNTIL 11 PM MDT (MIDNIGHT CDT)...

CLUSTERS OF THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MAKING A RUN AT THE FORECAST AREA
THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT FROM THE SOUTHWEST. LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING
WINDS AND VERY HEAVY RAINFALL WILL BE THE MAIN THREAT OVER THE
FORECAST AREA.

IN THE SHORT-TERM...AREAS EAST OF A TRIBUNE TO HOXIE LINE CAN
EXPECT THUNDERSTORMS TO BE IN THE VICINITY THROUGH 9 PM MDT (10
PM CDT). UPSTREAM OVER PARTS OF SOUTHWEST KANSAS...HAIL TO ONE INCH
HAS BEEN REPORTED.

LATER TONIGHT...A STRONG UPPER-LEVEL SYSTEM WILL FURTHER ENHANCE
ACTIVITY OVER MUCH OF NORTHWEST KANSAS.

AT SIGNS OF AN IMPENDING STORM...TOWERING THUNDERHEADS...DARKENING
SKIES...LIGHTNING AND INCREASING WINDS...MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY.
TUNE IN NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATION FOR
THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

VOJTESAK
Special weather statement, Aug 4, 7:17 PM CDT, 53 minutes before
NEZ079>081-050120-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
617 PM MDT (717 PM CDT) SUN AUG 4 1996

...TORNADO WATCH FOR EXTREME SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA UNTIL 1 AM MDT (2 AM
CDT)...

THIS REPLACES THE WATCH THAT WAS IN EFFECT FOR RED WILLOW COUNTY
UNTIL 8 PM CDT.

DANGEROUS THUNDERSTORMS THREATEN TO MOVE IN FROM COLORADO THIS
EVENING. BY THE TIME YOU SEE STORMS APPROACHING...YOU SHOULD KNOW
WHAT TO DO IN CASE WARNINGS ARE ISSUED.

IF YOU PLAN TO BE OUTDOORS THIS EVENING...CHECK THE LATEST WEATHER
INFORMATION AND KEEP A WEATHER EYE ON THE SKY.

JJK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 4, 7:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDGove66 min
Aug 4, 7:51 PM CDTTornado WarningGLDGove34 min
Aug 4, 9:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDCheyenne63 min
Aug 4, 8:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDYuma64 min
Aug 4, 8:52 PM CDTTornado WarningGLDYuma48 min
Aug 4, 8:56 PM CDTTornado WarningGLDYuma49 min
Aug 4, 9:39 PM CDTTornado WarningGLDYuma36 min
Aug 4, 10:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDYuma61 min
Aug 4, 10:43 PM CDTTornado WarningGLDYuma47 min
Aug 4, 9:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDDundy60 min
Aug 4, 9:49 PM CDTTornado WarningGLDDundy66 min
Aug 4, 10:04 PM CDTTornado WarningGLDDundy51 min
Aug 4, 10:33 PM CDTTornado WarningGLDHitchcock47 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kansas, 1996Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.