Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 29, NWS Goodland, KS

July 21, 1996Thomas County, Kansas

NWS Goodland, KS issued this tornado warning at Jul 21, 1996, 5:58 PM CDT for Thomas County, Kansas. It was in force for 32 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
Jul 21, 1996, 5:58 PM CDT (22:58 UTC)
Expired
Jul 21, 1996, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Goodland, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Thomas County, KS

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 56 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:01 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
Jul 21, 6:25 PM CDTHail 0.75Colby, 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

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 195 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, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 1996-07-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 1996-07-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 54 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
3236 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
54 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
83 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 KGLD 212300
TORGLD
KSC193-212330-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
458 PM MDT (558 PM CDT) SUN JUL 21 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GOODLAND KS HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 630 PM CDT (530 PM MDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHWEST KANSAS

   ...CENTRAL AND NORTH CENTRAL THOMAS COUNTY
 
GOODLAND DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUES INDICATES ANOTHER DEVELOPING
TORNADO NEAR COLBY.  MOVEMENT OF THE STORM IS NEARLY STATIONARY.

THOSE LIVING IN THE COLBY AREA...STAY IN THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR!

VJN

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 Jul 21, 2:59 PM CDT, 2 hours 59 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 21, 2:59 PM CDT, 2 hours 59 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
150 PM MDT (250 PM CDT) SUN JUL 21 1996

MN PROB WL BE LOCATION OF BNDRY OF STBL AND UNSTBL AMS.
FM MESO SFC DATA...DRIER AIR HAS PUSHED TO STRATTON NE TO
TRIBUNE KS LINE.  LINE OF CU ON 1K VIS DVLPG ALONG THIS BNDRY IN
MOST BUOYANT AIR.  ADAP SHOWS -8 LI AND NGM/ETA HAS THETA E/CAPE RDG.
WL PUT 30-40 PCT CHC IN EAST OF BNDRY AND ISOLD REST FOR TNGHT.  AS
FRONT SETTLES OVR EXTREME S AND E PTN OF CWA ON MONDAY...THIS WIL
BE WHERE BEST LIFT OCCURS.  REST OF CWA WILL DEAL WITH CLDS AND
UPSLOPE FLOW.  AS FRONT TRIES TO LIFT N ON MONDAY NIGHT WL
BROADBRUSH SCT TRW ACROSS AREA. NGM APPEARS BEST WITH LO LVL
COOLING AND INCR RH WITH UPSLOPE FLOW.  WL GO CLOSE TO NGM MOS.

HULL

GLD  063/084/062/088 113   HLC 066/085/063/089 343
CBK  064/085/064/088 223   MCK 062/081/060/085 413
TRB  066/086/066/088 343   ITR 059/084/060/085 113

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 21, 5:30 PM CDTTornado WarningGLDThomas30 min
Jul 21, 6:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDLogan66 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.