Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 12, NWS Dodge City, KS

July 12, 1998Morton County, Kansas

NWS Dodge City, KS issued this tornado warning at Jul 12, 1998, 4:38 PM CDT for Morton County, Kansas. It was in force for 32 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
Jul 12, 1998, 4:38 PM CDT (21:38 UTC)
Expired
Jul 12, 1998, 5:10 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Dodge City, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Morton County, KS

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 173 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:40 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
Jul 12, 4:42 PM CDTHail 1.75Rolla, 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 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 180 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 12:00Z on 1998-07-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 820 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 1998-07-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 49 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
820 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-212 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
907 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
49 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
160 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

570 
WFUS1 KDDC 122139 RRA
TORDDC
KSC129-122210-

URGENT - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
438 PM CDT SUN JUL 12 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DODGE CITY HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  EASTERN MORTON COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN KANSAS

* UNTIL 510 PM CDT

* AT 437 PM CDT... DODGE CITY DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING
  TORNADO 3 MILES NORTH OF ROLLA MOVING SOUTH AT 10 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  ROLLA  BY 455 PM CDT
  RURAL RESIDENTS OF EASTERN MORTON COUNTY.

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

D.STEINMETZ/MCAVOY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 12, 2:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCLane, Ness47 min
Jul 12, 3:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCMorton33 min
Jul 12, 4:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCMorton48 min
Jul 12, 4:21 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDDCMorton3 hr
Jul 12, 4:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCHamilton, Kearny32 min
Jul 12, 4:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCStevens47 min
Jul 12, 5:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCHamilton32 min
Jul 12, 5:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCStanton48 min
Jul 12, 5:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCHamilton47 min
Jul 12, 6:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCStanton32 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes in 1998

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.