Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 52, NWS Wichita, KS

May 8, 1996Kingman County, Reno County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 8, 1996, 9:43 PM CDT for Kingman County, Reno 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
May 8, 1996, 9:43 PM CDT (02:43 UTC)
Expired
May 8, 1996, 10:30 PM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Wichita, KS
Area
Whole counties

Counties Kingman County, KS, Reno County, KS

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 60 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:44 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
May 8, 9:45 PM CDTHail 0.75Haven, KS
May 8, 10:10 PM CDTHail 1.75Mt Vernon, 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

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 00:00Z, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 157 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, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 1996-05-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 564 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, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 1996-05-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 104 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
564 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-249 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2811 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
104 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
304 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 May 8, 4:08 PM CDT, 5 hours 35 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 8, 4:08 PM CDT, 5 hours 35 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
230 PM CDT WED MAY 8 1996

DISCUSSION...

18Z SURFACE MAP SHOWS FRONTAL BOUNDARY CONTINUES TO LINGER ACROSS
SOUTHWEST KS TO NORTH CENTRAL KS.  SATELLITE IS SHOWING A NICE
OUTFLOW BOUNDARY FROM STORMS EARLIER THIS MORNING ACROSS NORTHEAST
KANSAS MOVING INTO THE AREA.  CAP OVER SOUTHWEST KANSAS IS BIGGEST
CONCERN FOR THIS EVENING.  +12C AND 700 MB WAS NOSING INTO THE AREA
THIS MORNING...BUT BOTH NGM/ETA GRIDDED DATA INDICATED THAT IT MAY
GET PUSHED A LITTLE TO THE WEST BY THIS EVENING ALLOWING THE CAP TO
BE BROKEN...ESPECIALLY IN CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KS.  ADAP AT 18Z
SHOWS CAP WAS DOWN TO 2 DEGREES...AND ALSO SHOWS NICE MOISTURE
CONVERGENCE INTO CENTRAL KANSAS BETWEEN THE TWO BOUNDARIES.  AS FOR
SOUTHEAST KANSAS...WITH CU FIELD WORKING UP OVER EASTERN OK TSTMS
POSSIBLE AS IT MEETS THE OUTFLOW BOUNDARY.

ALSO AM LEANING TOWARDS THE ETA SOLUTION THIS AFTERNOON.  NGM
POSITIONING OF SFC FEATURES JUST ISN'T PANNING OUT.  SURFACE LOW
SHOULD REMAIN ACROSS WESTERN KS THROUGH THE PERIOD...UNTIL COLD
FRONT PUSHES IN THURSDAY NIGHT.

TEMPS ONLY FELL INTO THE UPPER 60S LAST NIGHT...AND WITH NOTHING
REALLY CHANGING...EXPECT TEM:PS NEAR 70 AGAIN TONIGHT ACROSS SOUTHERN
KS AND INTO THE LOWER 60S IN CENTRAL.

RSL 061/084 31   SLN 065/086 41
ICT 069/090 20   HUT 068/090 20
CNU 069/068 31

NOONAN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 8, 7:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTReno56 min
May 8, 8:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTReno61 min
May 8, 8:53 PM CDTTornado WarningICTReno52 min
May 8, 9:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTHarvey, Sedgwick44 min
May 8, 10:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSedgwick52 min
May 8, 10:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSedgwick50 min
May 9, 6:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTRice69 min
May 9, 6:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTReno69 min
May 9, 6:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMcPherson62 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.