Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 54, NWS Goodland, KS
NWS Goodland, KS issued this tornado warning at Aug 6, 1996, 6:32 PM CDT for Decatur County, Kansas. It was in force for 48 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 6, 1996, 6:32 PM CDT (23:32 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 6, 1996, 7:20 PM CDT
- In force
- 48 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 23:34 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 7:30 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Oberlin, 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 12:00Z, 11.5 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1588 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -293 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1709 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 26 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 192 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 144 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KGLD 062330 TORGLD KSC039-070020- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 532 PM MDT (632 PM CDT) TUE AUG 6 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GOODLAND KS HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 720 PM CDT (620 PM MDT) FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTHWEST KANSAS ...NORTHWESTERN DECATUR COUNTY AT 631 PM CDT...A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY GOODLAND DOPPLER RADAR AND SPOTTER REPORTS 13 MILES WEST OF OBERLIN OR 9 MILES SOUTHWEST OF TRAER MOVING NORTHEAST AT 11 MPH. PLEASE TAKE COVER IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO. A TORNADO IS ON THE GROUND! GO TO THE BASEMENT! IF A BASEMENT IS NOT AVAILABLE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR! VOJTESAK &
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 Aug 6, 2:40 PM CDT, 3 hours 52 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 6, 2:40 PM CDT, 3 hours 52 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 140 PM MDT (240 PM CDT) TUE AUG 6 1996 ...BIG CHALLENGE IS TSTM CHANCES THIS EVE/TONIGHT... ETA MDL OF CHOICE DUE TO SFC FTRS AND PAST PERFORMANCE. ETA SFC LOW OVR KS/NE BORDER THIS EVE WITH LOW LVL MSTR CONVERGENCE POOLING NEAR LOW VCNTY. BEST UPWARD FORCING IS INDICATED ON TOP OF AND N OF THIS SFC LOW. MODIFIED MORNING SNDGS ALSO POINT TO THIS AREA WITH MUCH MORE POTENTIAL ENERGY AND INSTABILITY. A MODIFIED SOUNDING BETWEEN MCK-LBF OUTPUTS CAPE OF AROUND 5000 J/KG. S AND W OF THIS AREA...SFC DEWPOINTS HAVE DRIED OUT THIS AFTN WITH SW SFC WNDS AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT. TAIL END OF S/WV SHOULD EFFECT FAR E COLO INTO NW KS WITH RETURN OF LOW LVL MSTR FORECAST. ATTM...STRONG CAP INDICATED BY ADAPS OVR HI PLAINS SPCLY W OF GLD. ARRIVAL OF COLD FRONT THIS EVE AND 850-700 TEMP ADVECTION WILL HELP DESTABILIZE THE AMS. STILL CONCERN ABT ETA KEEPING DRIER AIR OVR FAR NW KS/E COLO. WITH MAIN ENERGY JUST N OF CWA AND UPPER LVL FLOW MORE SW TO NE...FEEL ANY ACTIVITY WILL BE MOSTLY OUT OF FA. IN OUT PERIODS...FRONT AND ASSOCIATED MSTR CONVERGENCE PUSHES SE LATER TONIGHT. STRONG SFC HI PRESSURE BUILDS OVR E COLO INTO W KS WEDNESDAY MORNING WITH AMS BCMG MORE STABLE. MDLS AGREE IN PUSHING DRIER AIR INTO AREA WED AND THURS WITH BUILDING 500MB HGTS. GLD 56/83/58/90 10- HLC 62/86/61/91 2-- CBK 58/84/60/91 10- MCK 62/84/60/90 30- TRB 58/85/60/91 -0- ITR 5 5/82/57/89 10- KPL
The office that day
Everything else NWS Goodland, KS issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 6:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Rawlins | 65 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.