Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Goodland, KS

June 6, 1996Decatur County, Kansas

NWS Goodland, KS issued this tornado warning at Jun 6, 1996, 4:34 AM CDT for Decatur County, Kansas. It was in force for 46 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
Jun 6, 1996, 4:34 AM CDT (09:34 UTC)
Expired
Jun 6, 1996, 5:20 AM CDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Goodland, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Decatur County, KS

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 116 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:34 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, 4:55 AM CDTTornado F0Oberlin, KS
Jun 6, 5:15 AM CDTHail 1Dresden, 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

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 00:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 150 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, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 1996-06-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2118 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, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 1996-06-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 7 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
2118 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-17 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1414 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
64 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
7 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
83 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
3.1

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 tornado 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 tornado warning went out at Jun 6, 3:22 AM CDT, 1 hour 12 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 6, 3:22 AM CDT, 1 hour 12 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
222 AM MDT (322 AM CDT) THU JUN 6 1996

HAVE WORDED ZONES FOR PCPN SHIELD MOVG SLOLY SWD ALONG NE/KS BORDER.
FIRST SHOT OF NORTHERLY OUTFLOW CUD TOUCH A FEW RWS ALG 2ND TIER OF
KS ZNS 13>15 THIS MRNG. FCST HAS GONE WITH INCRG H7 MOISTURE GENRLY
N OF I-70 THRU EARLY FRI MRNG. WENT WELL BLO GUID FOR HIGHS IN NE
ZNS AND UPR TIER OF KS ZNS PER OUTFLOW BOUNDARY/CLOUDS AND CAA
WORKING IN TDY WITH N FLO. THESE BOUNDARIES WIL MAKE TEMPS CONSDBLY
COOLER THAN PREV FCSTS HAD GOING THROUGH TONITE.

WIL KEEP TORNADO WATCH HEADLINE IN KS ZNS 3/4/15/16 TIL 12Z

GLD  075/049/077 200  HLC 070/050/075 31-
CBK  075/049/077 200  MCK 069/047/075 610
TRB  079/051/084 000  ITR 084/053/073 010

VOJTESAK

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 6, 12:20 AM CDT, 4 hours 14 minutes before
KSZ001>004-013>016-027>029-041-042-NEZ079>081-061125-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
1120 PM MDT (1220 AM CDT) WED JUN 5 1996

...A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR RED WILLOW COUNTY OF
SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA AND DECATUR...SHERIDAN...NORTON AND GRAHAM
COUNTIES OF NORTHWEST KANSAS...

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR THE
HIGHLIGHTED COUNTIES UNTIL 5 AM MDT (6 AM CDT).  GOODLAND DOPPLER
RADAR ALREADY SHOWS A POWERFUL THUNDERSTORM MOVING TOWARD THIS AREA.
BE PREPARED FOR WARNINGS.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS THAT TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE IN
AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA.  LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS MAY ALSO
OCCUR.  BE READY TO MOVE TO A BASEMENT OR STORM CELLAR IF A WARNING
IS ISSUED FOR YOUR AREA.

VJN
Special weather statement, Jun 6, 2:01 AM CDT, 2 hours 33 minutes before
COZ090-KSZ003-004-015-016-NEZ079>081-061005-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
100 AM MDT (200 AM CDT) THU JUN 6 1996

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR YUMA COUNTY
COLORADO ALONG WITH DUNDY AND HITCHCOCK COUNTIES NEBRASKA...
...A TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES FOR RED WILLOW COUNTY NEBRASKA AS WELL
AS DECATUR...NORTON...SHERIDAN AND GRAHAM COUNTIES KANSAS...

GOODLAND DOPPLER RADAR STILL SHOWED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS OVER
SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA MOVING SOUTHEAST AROUND 35 MPH.  EARLIER...A VERY
STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED OVER RED WILLOW COUNTY JUST EAST OF
MCCOOK NEBRASKA.

ANY ADDITIONAL STORMS TONIGHT COULD BE SEVERE WITH LARGE HAIL...
WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN.  AS A RESULT...ALL
CURRENT WATCHES REMAIN IN EFFECT.

IF SEVERE WEATHER IS OBSERVED...CONTACT YOUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT
AGENCY AND ASK THEM TO RELAY YOUR INFORMATION TO THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE.

KPL
Special weather statement, Jun 6, 4:08 AM CDT, 26 minutes before
COZ090-NEZ079-061015-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
308 AM MDT THU JUN 6 1996

...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR YUMA COUNTY COLORADO...AND
DUNDY COUNTY NEBRASKA HAS BEEN CANCELLED...

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ALONG THE KANSAS AND
NEBRASKA BORDER EAST OF TRENTON NEBRASKA... ATWOOD KANSAS LINE. THESE
THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 TO 30 MPH AND POSE NO
THREAT TO DUNDY AND YUMA COUNTIES.

VOJTESAK
Special weather statement, Jun 6, 4:24 AM CDT, 10 minutes before
NEZ080-061030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
323 AM MDT (423 AM CDT) THU JUN 6 1996

...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR HITCHCOCK COUNTY HAS BEEN
CANCELLED...

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE MOVED RAPIDLY INTO KANSAS AND NO LONGER
POSE A THREAT TO HITCHCOCK COUNTY.

WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH LATE MORNING...BUT NO
SEVERE WEATHER IS EXPECTED.

VOJTESAK

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 6, 4:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDNorton64 min
Jun 6, 4:08 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDDecatur, Rawlins62 min
Jun 6, 4:49 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDSheridan66 min
Jun 6, 4:51 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDGraham64 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.