Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 5, NWS Wichita, KS

April 21, 1996Wilson County, Woodson County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 21, 1996, 5:08 PM CDT for Wilson County, Woodson County, Kansas. It was in force for 67 min. 4 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
Apr 21, 1996, 5:08 PM CDT (22:08 UTC)
Expired
Apr 21, 1996, 6:15 PM CDT
In force
67 min
Issued by
NWS Wichita, KS
Area
Whole counties

Counties Wilson County, KS, Woodson County, KS

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 148 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:12 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
Apr 21, 5:15 PM CDTHail 1.75Toronto, KS
Apr 21, 5:15 PM CDTHail 1Coyville, KS
Apr 21, 5:30 PM CDTHail 1.75Yates Center, KS
Apr 21, 5:30 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 55Yates Center, 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

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 142 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, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 1996-04-21Temperature 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, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 1996-04-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 308 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
2577 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
65 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
308 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
281 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

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 Wichita, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Apr 21, 4:15 PM CDT, 53 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 21, 4:15 PM CDT, 53 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
245 PM CDT SUN APR 21 1996

WARM FRONT ADVANCING INTO AREA WITH VERY WARM AND MOIST AIR SPREADING
INTO SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS THIS AFTERNOON.  NDS PROFILER
IS SHOWING GOOD VEERING AND DIRECTIONAL SHEAR.  55 DEGREE DEWPTS ARE
JUST ABOUT TO MOVE INTO SOUTHERN KS WITH 60+ DEWPTS ACROSS CENTRAL AND
SOUTHERN OK.  WIND SHIFT LINE ACROSS WESTERN KS IS BECOMING MORE OF A
DRY LINE AS MOISTURE STREAMS INTO AREA...THIS LINE WAS MAKING GOOD
PROGRESS ACROSS WRN KS...BUT SEEMS TO HAVE SLOWED..AND EVEN BACKED A
LITTLE AT 19Z.

THE COLDER AIR SEEMS TO BE BACK IN NE PANHANDLE STILL.  ONCE TROF AND
COLDER AIR CATCH UP AND GET MOVING ACR:OSS STATE MOST OF THE PCPN
ACTIVITY WILL BE PUSHED EAST AND SOUTH. OTHERWISE...A PARTLY TO MOSTLY
CLOUDY NIGHT ACROSS THE AREA.

RSL 039/060 -0  SLN 040/063 20
ICT 046/064 40  HUT 045/064 30
CNU 048/065 71

NOONAN

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 21, 12:26 PM CDT, 4 hours 42 minutes before
KSZ032-033-047>053-067>073-082-083-091>101-220600-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KANSAS
1225 PM CST SUN APR 21 1996

THIS OUTLOOK PERTAINS TO THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN CENTRAL KANSAS:
 BARTON      COWLEY      HARVEY      MARION      RENO     SEDGWICK
 BUTLER      ELLSWORTH   KINGMAN     MC PHERSON  RUSSELL  SUMNER
 CHASE       HARPER      LINCOLN     RICE        SALINE

AND IN SOUTHEAST KANSAS:
 ALLEN       CHEROKEE    GREENWOOD    NEOSHO
 BOURBON     CRAWFORD    LABETTE      WILSON
 CHAUTAUQUA  ELK         MONTGOMERY   WOODSON

SYNOPSIS:
A QUICKLY ADVANCING WARM FRONT WILL RACE ACROSS OKLAHOMA AND INTO
SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS BY LATE AFTERNOON. THE WARM FRONT
WILL BRING VERY WARM AND VERY MOIST AIR INTO THE AREA... ESPECIALLY
INTO SOUTHEAST KANSAS.

MEANWHILE...BACK TO THE NORTHWEST...A COLD FRONT WILL BEGIN TO SLIDE
ACROSS NORTHWEST KANSAS AND MOVE INTO CENTRAL KANSAS BY MID-
AFTERNOON...AND INTO SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS LATE THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

AS THE COLD FRONT COLLIDES WITH THE WARM AND MOIST AIR SPREADING
INTO THE SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS THUNDERSTORMS ARE
EXPECTED TO DEVELOP...WITH SOME SEVERE... PRODUCING LARGE
HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND POSSIBLY EVEN TORNADOES.

THE AREA OF MOST INTEREST IS MAINLY ALONG AND EAST OF THE KANSAS
TURNPIKE INCLUDING ALL OF SOUTHEAST KANSAS.

SKYWARN ACTIVATION MAY BE NEEDED LATE THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS SOUTH
CENTRAL KANSAS...AND IS LIKELY ACROSS SOUTHEAST KANSAS.

NOONAN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 21, 5:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTGreenwood, Wilson60 min
Apr 21, 5:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSumner62 min
Apr 21, 6:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMontgomery62 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.