Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 56, NWS Goodland, KS
NWS Goodland, KS issued this tornado warning at Aug 6, 1996, 7:53 PM CDT for Thomas County, Kansas. It was in force for 47 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
- Aug 6, 1996, 7:53 PM CDT (00:53 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 6, 1996, 8:40 PM CDT
- In force
- 47 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 00:57 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, 8:16 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Colby, KS | |
| Aug 6, 8:40 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Brewster, 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 00:00Z, 0.9 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 508 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -58 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 3514 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 50 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 27 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 136 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 2.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KGLD 070051 TORGLD KSC193-070140- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 653 PM MDT (753 PM CDT) TUE AUG 6 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN GOODLAND KS HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 840 PM CDT (740 PM MDT) FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTHWEST KANSAS ...NORTHERN THOMAS COUNTY AT 749 PM CDT...A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY GOODLAND DOPPLER RADAR 14 MILES NORTHWEST OF COLBY OR 9 MILES NORTHWEST OF LEVANT MOVING EAST AT 5 MPH. A BRIEF TORNADO TOUCH DOWN ALONG WITH NUMEROUS REPORTS OF FUNNEL CLOUDS FROM SPOTTERS 12 MILES NORTHWEST OF COLBY HAVE RECEIVED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AT GOODLAND. PLEASE TAKE fCOVER IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO. GO TO 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 Aug 6, 2:40 PM CDT, 5 hours 13 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 6, 2:40 PM CDT, 5 hours 13 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
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Aug 6, 6:57 PM CDT, 56 minutes before
KSZ001>004-013>016-NEZ080-081-070400- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS 556 PM MDT (656 PM CDT) TUE AUG 6 1996 ...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF NORTHWEST KANSAS AND SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA UNTIL 10 PM MDT (11 PM CDT)... A LINE OF STRONG-TO-SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE SLOWLY TO THE NORTHEAST ACROSS THE WATCH AREA THIS EVENING. EXPECT SOME OF THE CELLS IN THIS LINE OF STORMS TO PRODUCE TORNADOES. 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. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIZO...RADIO OR TELEVISION FOR THE LATEST UPDATES AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS CONCERNING THIS DANGEROUS WEATHER SITUATION. VOJTESAK
The office that day
Everything else NWS Goodland, KS issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 6, 7:07 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GLD | Thomas | 48 min |
| Aug 6, 7:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Decatur | 63 min |
| Aug 6, 7:29 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Decatur | 61 min |
| Aug 6, 7:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Rawlins | 47 min |
| Aug 6, 8:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Norton | 49 min |
| Aug 6, 8:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Rawlins, Thomas | 61 min |
| Aug 6, 8:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Decatur | 65 min |
| Aug 6, 9:18 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | GLD | Rawlins | 4 hr |
| Aug 6, 9:33 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Rawlins | 47 min |
| Aug 6, 10:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Rawlins | 62 min |
| Aug 6, 10:43 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Cheyenne | 62 min |
| Aug 6, 11:38 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Rawlins | 62 min |
| Aug 7, 12:04 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Decatur | 66 min |
| Aug 7, 12:39 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | GLD | Sherman | 51 min |
| Aug 7, 1:38 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | GLD | Decatur, Rawlins | 6 hr |
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.