Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 16, NWS Goodland, KS

May 18, 1997Rawlins County, Thomas County, Kansas

NWS Goodland, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 18, 1997, 7:46 PM CDT for Rawlins County, Thomas County, Kansas. It was in force for 44 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 18, 1997, 7:46 PM CDT (00:46 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1997, 8:30 PM CDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Goodland, KS
Area
Whole counties

Counties Rawlins County, KS, Thomas County, KS

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 59 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:47 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 18, 8:20 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Herndon, 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

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 178 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, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 1997-05-19Temperature 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, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 1997-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 116 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1010 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
116 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
231 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

105 
WUUS1 KGLD 190048 RRA
SVRGLD
KSC153-193-190130-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
646 PM MDT SUN MAY 18 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  RAWLINS COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN KANSAS
  THOMAS COUNTY IN NORTHWESTERN KANSAS

* UNTIL 830 PM CDT (730 PM MDT)
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  13 MILES SOUTHEAST OF ATWOOD            AROUND 750 PM CDT
  JCT HWY 117 AND HWY 36                  AROUND 750 PM CDT
  5 MILES NORTH OF REXFORD                AROUND 815 PM CDT
  BREWSTER                                AROUND 755 PM CDT
  GEM                                     AROUND 755 PM CDT
  LEVANT                                  AROUND 755 PM CDT

* AT 742 PM CDT...GOODLAND DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF ATWOOD MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25
  MPH.

THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF DAMAGING WIND. GO INSIDE A STURDY
BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS

BULLER

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 Goodland, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 18, 3:26 PM CDT, 4 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 18, 3:26 PM CDT, 4 hours 20 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
226 PM MDT (326 PM CDT) SUN MAY 18 1997

...MAIN FCST CHALLENGE IS TIMING OF FRONT AND CHCS FOR PCPN...

.UPR AIR...
RELATIVELY HIGH ZONAL FLOW WILL CONTINUE OVER THE AREA THE NEXT 2
DAYS. THE MAIN ENERGY WITH THE SHORTWAVE THIS MORNING WAS OVER THE
NORTHCENTRAL STATES AS EVIDENCE OF HEIGHT FALLS GREATER THAN 70
METERS AT 500 MB EXTENDING FROM ERN MT TO WRN ND. MAIN ENERGY WITH
THIS SYS IS EXPECTED TO SWEEP NORTH OF THE CWA...OVER THE NORTHERN
STATES.

.SFC...
COLD FRONT BEARING DOWN ON THE AREA FROM SOUTHEASTERN WY AND THE
NEBRASKA PANHANDLE. LOOKS LIKE FROPA AT BFF WAS BETWEEN 17Z AND 18Z.
CALCULATIONS SHOW FRONTS SPEED ABOUT 20 KTS OVER THE PAST 10 HRS.
EXPECT AN ACCELERATION OF THE FRONT BY THIS EVENING AND STRONG NORTH
WINDS DEVELOP ON THE BACKSIDE OF THE LOW.  THE FRONT SHOULD ENTER
THE NORTHERN PORTION OF THE CWA AROUND 00Z AND SHOULD CLEAR GREELEY
AND WICHITA COUNTIES BY 06Z.

.MODEL CHOICE...
WILL GO WITH ETA AS THE MODEL OF CHOICE WITH SOME MODIFICATIONS.
LIKED THE PLACEMENT AND THE ACCELERATION OF THE FRONT OF THE ETA
OVER THE NGM. NGM HAS SFC WINDS OF ONLY AROUND 10 KTS AT MIDNIGHT.
BELIEVE WINDS WILL BE IN THE BREEZY CATEGORY FOR THE MOST PART...BUT
WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED TO SEE WINDY CONDITIONS FOR AN HOUR OR 2
AFTER FROPA. FOUM68 MODEL OUTPUT DATA SHOWS NGM WITH SOMEWHAT WEAKER
WINDS AT DDC AFTER FROPA. CONSIDERING THE NGM WIND SPEEDS ARE
USUALLY TO LOW WITH THIS TYPE OF PATTERN...WILL BUMP WINDS UP
SOMEWHAT FROM GUIDENCE.

.TEMPS...
MADE SOME MODIFICATIONS TO NGM GUIDENCE. BUMPED DOWN TEMPS TONIGHT
AT HLC. BELIEVE FRONT WILL BE STRONG AND FAST ENOUGH FOR THE COOLER
AIR TO REACH THE EASTERN CWA BEFORE 12Z. FOR MONDAY...ADJUSTED TEMPS
TO MATCH THICKNESS PATTERN...LOWERED ERN ZONES AND RAISED WESTERN
ZONES FROM GUIDENCE. FOR THE DAY TUESDAY...WENT ABOVE GUIDENCE
TUESDAY OVER THE WESTERN AREAS. EXPECT TEMPERATURES TO RECOVER TO
NEAR NORMAL BY TUESDAY WITH GOOD SOUTHERLY FLOW. AVN 60 HOUR
THICKNESS FCST SHOWS VALUES AROUND 5730 METERS.

.PCPN...
BELIEVE THE ETA OVER DOES THE PCPN OVER THE NORTHERN AREAS...BUT
LOOKS REASONABLE ELSEWHERE. CLUSTER OF TSTMS APCHG ERN COLORADO.
STRONG COLD FRONT WITH MARGINAL SFC MOISTURE AHEAD OF THE FRONT
SHOULD PROVIDE ENOUGH LIFT FOR THE STORMS TO SUSTAIN THEMSELVES THIS
EVENING. EXPECT OVERALL RAINFALL AMOUNTS TO BE RATHER LIGHT
CONSIDERING THE FAST SPEED OF THE FRONT...LIMITATIONS OF SIGNIFICANT
AND DEEP MOISTURE OVER THE AREA AND THE LACK OF STRONG DYNAMICS.

GLD  043/064/043/077 7-0   HLC  047/065/041/075 810
CBK  044/064/044/076 7-0   ITR  042/066/043/078 7-0
TRB  046/068/044/078 81-   MCK  044/064/041/075 7-0

SKIPPER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 7:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDWichita58 min
May 18, 7:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDCheyenne, Sherman47 min
May 18, 8:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDDecatur, Gove, Sheridan49 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kansas, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1997

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.