Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 42, NWS Hastings, NE

May 15, 1998Jewell County, Smith County, Kansas

NWS Hastings, NE issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 15, 1998, 10:05 AM CDT for Jewell County, Smith County, Kansas. It was in force for 45 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 15, 1998, 10:05 AM CDT (15:05 UTC)
Expired: May 15, 1998, 10:50 AM CDT
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Hastings, NE
Area: Whole counties

Counties Jewell County, KS, Smith County, KS

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 60 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 15:04 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 15, 10:16 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 50	Smith Center, 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

Omaha, NE (KOAX), launched 12:00Z, 3.1 hours before the alert went out and 248 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: 1194 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -370 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1627 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 64 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -76 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 26 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 15, 1:20 AM CDT, 8 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 15, 1:20 AM CDT, 8 hours 45 minutes before

CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
120 AM CDT FRI MAY 15 1998

...TROUBLE CONFINED TO THE 1ST 12 HRS OF FCST W/ TSRA CHCS AS RATHER
   IMPRESSIVE TROF SWINGS OUT OVER AREA TODAY...

WILL KEEP THIS BRIEF W/ THREAT FOR CONVECTION INCREASING ACROSS SRN
PARTS OF THE CWA ATT. SAT PIX EARLY THIS AM HAD MAIN SPIN LOCATED OVER
NRN NM. ONE AREA OF SHRA/TSRA WORKING THRU CNTRL KS. ECHOES NOT ALL
THAT IMPRESSIVE LOOKING...BUT ICT HAVING FUN W/ 70+ MPH WINDS OUT OF
THEM. NEXT ROUND OF STORMS FIRING IN TX PNDHL IN ASSOC W/ MAIN SYS.
SFC CHART SHOWED COLD FRONT FROM AROUND ANW SOUTH TO MCK/GLD AND ON
SW INTO SRN CO. GOOD NW FLOW BEHIND IT INDICATING A GOOD PUSH IN THIS
DIRECTION OCCURING. DRY LINE EXTENDS SOUTH FROM MCK TO THE WEST OF GCK.
IT HAS BACKED TO THE WEST...BUT WILL ROAR EASTWARD AGAIN AS SYS COMES
OUT OVER NEXT 12 HRS.

WILL KEEP THIS EVENING UPDATED FCST BASICALLY INTACT...FOCUSING MAIN
STORM THREAT THRU 18Z...AT WHICH TIME...AXIS OF TROF SHOULD BE SWEEPING
THRU. WILL GIVE SE 1/2 OF CWA THE BEST CHC...AND HOLD PRECIP CHCS INTO
THE EARLY AFTN...OUT WEST...SCT POPS IN AM...P SUNNY DURING THE AFTN.
WINDY THIS AM W/ SOUTH WINDS 20/30...BECMG NW 15/25 MIDDAY. TEMPS WILL
BE HELD DOWN SOME BY CLDS TODAY...GENERALLY THE MID 70S.

TONITE...WILL GO CLEAR WITH TEMPS FROM THE MID 40S WEST TO AROUND 50
EAST.

TOMR...M SUNNY. HIGH 80 EAST TO LOWER 80S WEST...MAYBE EVEN MID 80S IN
WRN KS COUNTIES.

GRI TU 077/050/081 600
HBR TU 076/051/080 600
ODX TU 077/046/082 400
BLT TU 077/053/083 600
LXN TU 078/045/083 400

GURNEY

The office that day

Everything else NWS Hastings, NE issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 15, 2:32 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Buffalo, Furnas, Gosper, Phelps	48 min
May 15, 2:43 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Sherman	47 min
May 15, 3:05 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Valley	45 min
May 15, 3:17 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Greeley	48 min
May 15, 11:47 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Fillmore	43 min
May 15, 11:56 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	York	49 min
May 15, 12:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GID	Fillmore, York	62 min
May 15, 12:32 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	GID	Polk	43 min
May 15, 12:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Hamilton	37 min
May 15, 1:08 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GID	Mitchell, Osborne	47 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kansas, 1998 Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.