Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 15, NWS Dodge City, KS

October 16, 1998Ellis County, Kansas

NWS Dodge City, KS issued this tornado warning at Oct 16, 1998, 7:04 PM CDT for Ellis County, Kansas. It was in force for 31 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
Oct 16, 1998, 7:04 PM CDT (00:04 UTC)
Expired
Oct 16, 1998, 7:35 PM CDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Dodge City, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Ellis County, KS

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 140 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:08 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
Oct 16, 7:05 PM CDTTornado F0Yocemento, 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Oct 16, 4:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 00:00Z, 0.1 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 1998-10-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1332 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 00:00Z on 1998-10-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 232 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
1332 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
969 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
64 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
232 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
256 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.2
Supercell composite
11.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDDC 170004 RRA
TORDDC
KSC051-170035-

URGENT - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
704 PM CDT FRI OCT 16 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DODGE CITY HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WESTERN ELLIS COUNTY IN CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 735 PM CDT

* AT 702 PM CDT... DODGE CITY DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 6
  MILES SOUTH OF ELLIS... MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  ELLIS              V          BY 710 PM CDT
  YOCEMENTO                    BY 715 PM CDT

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

RB/REITER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 16, 7:34 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCEllis31 min
Oct 17, 1:48 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCComanche, Kiowa47 min
Oct 17, 2:10 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCBarber, Comanche, Pratt45 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.