Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Wichita, KS

May 26, 1996Labette County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at May 26, 1996, 8:32 PM CDT for Labette County, Kansas. It was in force for 43 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: May 26, 1996, 8:32 PM CDT (01:32 UTC)
Expired: May 26, 1996, 9:15 PM CDT
In force: 43 min
Issued by: NWS Wichita, KS
Area: Whole counties

County Labette County, KS

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 115 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:35 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 26, 8:36 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Bartlett, 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

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 00:00Z, 1.5 hours before the alert went out and 137 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1746 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1110 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 142 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 182 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.1
Supercell composite: 10.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KICT 270132
TORICT
KSC099-270215-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
832 PM CDT SUN MAY 26 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  915 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST KANSAS
 
   ...LABETTE COUNTY
 
AT 830 PM...RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 18 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF
COFFEYVILLE OR 12 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF CHETOPA.
 
MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST 30 MILES AN HOUR. IF YOU LIVE IN
CHETOPA AND BARTLETT SEEK YOUR TORNADO SHELTER AT ONCE. THIS STORM
PRODUCED DAMAGE IN CENTRALIA OKLAHOMA.
 
THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS STORM.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE IN THE
PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF AVAILABLE.
OTHERWISE... GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A
STURDIER BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
 
ROSNER

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 Wichita, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at May 26, 11:11 AM CDT, 9 hours 21 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 26, 11:11 AM CDT, 9 hours 21 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
400 AM CDT SAT MAY 25 1996

MORNING SOUNDINGS SOOW AMS FAIRLY WORKED OVER BY LAST NIGHTS
CONVECTION AND LITTLE POSITIVE ENERGY AVAILABLE.  CURRENT THINKING
IS THAT IT WILL TAKE A WHILE FOR AFTN HEATING TO OVERCOME THIS DUE
TO CLD COVER.  LATER TDY...COLD POOL ALOFT STARTS TO AFFECT KS AND
THIS WILL COMBINE WITH NORTHWARD MOVING WARM FNT AND SFC WAA TO
RAPIDLY DESTABALIZE AMS.  TIMING UNSURE AND ALMOST LOWERED POPS
TDY...BUT KEPT THEM UP DUE TO LOW CCTS.  XPCT SCATTERED
TSTMS/SHOWERS BY LATE AFTN...BUT HEAVY STUFF SHOULD WAIT UNTIL COLD
POOL ALOFT ARRIVES THIS EVENING.  ALSO RAISED TEMPS TO MATCH GOING
TREND.

RSL 075/059 76 \  SLN 077/061 76
ICT 082/062 66   HUT 080/061 66
CNU 085/062 66

MATT

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 26, 8:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Labette	46 min
May 26, 8:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Allen	33 min
May 26, 8:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Montgomery, Neosho	33 min
May 26, 9:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Allen, Neosho	30 min
May 26, 9:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Labette	30 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1996 Every tornado warning in 1996 Tornadoes 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.