Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 2, NWS Wichita, KS
NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at May 8, 1996, 8:53 PM CDT for Reno County, Kansas. It was in force for 52 min. 3 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, 8:53 PM CDT (01:53 UTC)
- Expired
- May 8, 1996, 9:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 52 min
- Issued by
- NWS Wichita, KS
- Area
- Whole counties
County Reno County, KS
The radar
The Wichita radar (KICT), 66 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:57 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 9:00 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 55 | Plevna, KS | |
| May 8, 9:35 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Pretty Prairie, KS | |
| May 8, 9:45 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Haven, 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, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 161 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KICT 090152 TORICT KSC155-090245- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS 853 PM CDT WED MAY 8 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 945 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS ...RENO COUNTY AT 850 PM...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF HUTCHINSON...OR 5 MILES WEST OF ARLINGTON. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. THE STORM WILL APPROACH HUTCHINSON BY 920 PM. THIS TORNADO WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING WHICH WAS IN EFFECT FOR WESTERN RENO COUNTY. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. CARS ARE EASILY TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF NO STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT. MARIEN
The office that day
Everything else NWS Wichita, KS issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 7:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Reno | 56 min |
| May 8, 8:29 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Reno | 61 min |
| May 8, 9:43 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Kingman, Reno | 47 min |
| May 8, 9:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Harvey, Sedgwick | 44 min |
| May 8, 10:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Sedgwick | 52 min |
| May 8, 10:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Sedgwick | 50 min |
| May 9, 6:36 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Rice | 69 min |
| May 9, 6:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Reno | 69 min |
| May 9, 6:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | McPherson | 62 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.