Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 53, NWS Hastings, NE

October 4, 1998Mitchell County, Kansas

NWS Hastings, NE issued this tornado warning at Oct 4, 1998, 3:12 PM CDT for Mitchell County, Kansas. It was in force for 63 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 4, 1998, 3:12 PM CDT (20:12 UTC)
Expired
Oct 4, 1998, 4:15 PM CDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Hastings, NE
Area
Whole counties

County Mitchell County, KS

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 105 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:13 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 4, 3:30 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 60Glen Elder, 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

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 8.2 hours before the alert went out and 226 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, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 1998-10-04Temperature 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, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 1998-10-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 310 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
565 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
310 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
306 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

382 
WFUS1 KGRI 042014 RRA
TORGRI
KSC123-042115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
312 PM CDT SUN OCT 4 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HASTINGS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR PEOPLE IN...
  MITCHELL COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 415 PM CDT

* AT 310 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  TORNADO 16 MILES WEST OF BELOIT OR 40 MILES WEST OF CONCORDIA...
  MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  GLEN ELDER BY 320 PM

TAKE SHELTER IN A BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS

DEE/RCB

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 Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Oct 4, 2:05 AM CDT, 13 hours 7 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 4, 2:05 AM CDT, 13 hours 7 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
205 AM CDT SUN OCT 4 1998

VERY DIFFICULT FCST AS SPRINGLIKE STORM SYSTEM EVOLVES OUT ONTO THE
PLAINS TODAY.

ETA/NGM HAVE SWITCHED SOLUTION N/S-WISE OF SYS W/ NGM WRAPPING IT UP
IN NRN NEB...ETA NEAR SD/ND. AVN IS CLOSER TO NGM. ETA MUCH FASTER IN
MOVING UPPER/SFC LO NE OF AREA & THIS SEEMS UNLIKELY GIVEN 150KT H25
JET STILL DIGGING DOWN WEST SIDE OF TROF AS OF 00Z. THIS STRONG DIGGING
JET SHOULD LEAD TO A STRONGER/MORE SRN PLACED SYS AS WELL. IN FACT
...H5 UAA AND WV PIX THIS AM SUGGEST TROF IS ALREADY DEEPER THAN ANY
OF THE MDLS SUGGEST. HGHT FALL PATTERNS SUPPORT A MORE SRN SOLN AS WELL
W/ BULLSEYE GENERALLY IN THE 4CRNRS.

PROFILERS SHOW 45LT LLJ NOW RIDING OVER H85 WARM FRONT LOCATED NEAR
NEB/KS BORDER ON 00Z ANALYSIS. THE GULF IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS W/ 20C
DWPT IN DRT. 10/15C INTO KS/OK. AS LLJ CONTS TO ADVEC UP OVER COOL
LLVLS AND AS STRONGLY DIFFLUENT FLOW AT H5 INDICATED BY PROFILERS WORKS
NE INTO AREA...EXPECT SHRA/TSRAS TO DVLP RAPIDLY BEFORE SUNRISE. THIS
OVERRUNNING PRECIP IS PROGGED TO CONT FOR THE 1ST 1/2 OF DAY. SVR WX
IS A THREAT...ESP TODAY IN SE CWA. ATT SFC LO OF 999 IN SE CO JUST
GETTING GOING. PRES FALL PATTERN ISN/T DISTINCT YET...BUT HINTS AT A
TRACK TOWARD LBF OR SO. SUCH A TRACK WOULD BRING PORTIONS OF SE CWA
INTO WARM SECTOR BY THIS AFTN & ALSO DRAG A STRONG DRYLINE INTO THE
AREA. GIVEN THIS...WILL LIKELY WORD SVR STORMS PSBL IN A HANDFUL OF
CNTYS IN THE SE.

WITH RAPIDLY DEEPENING SYS...WINDS WILL ALSO BE A BIG CONCERN BOTH W/
SE WINDS TODAY...AND ESP SW TONIGHT/TOMR AS DRYSLOT PUNCHES THRU CWA.
WILL WORD FCST AS WINDY SOUTH...BECOMING WINDY NORTH THEN WINDY TNGT
& TOMR.

PRECIP CHCS SHOULD TAPER OFF TONIGHT/TOMR. LOCATION OF UPPER LO WILL
BE VERY IMPORTANT AS TO AMT OF WRAPAROUND SHRAS. WILL LEAVE TOKEN 30S
AS I EXPECT A SRN POSITION. CONFIDENCE IS LOW HWVR.

LAST...BUT NOT LEAST...TEMPS WILL BE A BEAR AS WELL W/ A BIG BUST
POTENTIAL IN SRN ZONES. IF DRYSLOTTED BY AFTN...80S NOT OUT OF THE
QUESTION IN NC KS. WILL UP CURRENT FCST SIGNIFICANTLY AND GO AT LEAST
AS WARM AS FWCS 70ISH. ELSEWHERE...WILL JUST BALLPARK TEMPS FROM THE
UPPER 50S TO LOWER 60S BOTH DAYS WITH A LOW TONIGHT AROUND 50 GIVE OR
TAKE 3 DEGREES.

.GID...NONE.

GURNEY

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Oct 4, 11:49 AM CDT, 3 hours 23 minutes before
KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-051200-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
1149 AM CDT SUN OCT 4 1998

...SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND PART OF
NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION....SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED
ACROSS PARTS OF THE REGION TODAY INTO THIS EVENING.

SYNOPSIS....

SCATTERED STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP
THIS AFTERNOON OVER CENTRAL KANSAS...AND THEN MOVE NORTH INTO
SOUTHERN NEBRASKA BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER NORTHWEST KANSAS WILL MOVE
NORTHEAST TODAY...BRINGING A WARM FRONT NORTH INTO SOUTHERN NEBRASKA
BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON.  SEVERAL INGREDIENTS FOR THE RAPID
DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE STORMS WILL COME TOGETHER AS THIS OCCURS.
DESPITE THE CLOUD COVER AND COOL TEMPERATURES...VERY STRONG WIND
SHEAR AND INCREASING INSTABILITY WILL COMBINE WITH A STRONG JET
STREAM TO RESULT IN LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND POSSIBLY EVEN
A FEW TORNADOES.

THE STORMS SHOULD INITIALLY FORM NEAR INTERSTATE 70 AFTER
2 PM...THEN MOVE NORTH OR NORTHEAST AT 40 TO 50 MPH.  SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS COULD REACH AS FAR NORTH AS INTERSTATE 80 BY 4 PM
AND THEN TRACK INTO THE ORD AND GREELEY AREAS EARLY THIS EVENING.
THE MOST LIKELY AREA FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE IN NORTH CENTRAL
KANSAS...WHERE MORE MOISTURE WILL BE AVAILABLE.

DDN
Special weather statement, Oct 4, 11:49 AM CDT, 3 hours 23 minutes before
KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-051200-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
1149 AM CDT SUN OCT 4 1998

...SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND PART OF
NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION....SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED
ACROSS PARTS OF THE REGION TODAY INTO THIS EVENING.

SYNOPSIS....

SCATTERED STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP
THIS AFTERNOON OVER CENTRAL KANSAS...AND THEN MOVE NORTH INTO
SOUTHERN NEBRASKA BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER NORTHWEST KANSAS WILL MOVE
NORTHEAST TODAY...BRINGING A WARM FRONT NORTH INTO SOUTHERN NEBRASKA
BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON.  SEVERAL INGREDIENTS FOR THE RAPID
DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE STORMS WILL COME TOGETHER AS THIS OCCURS.
DESPITE THE CLOUD COVER AND COOL TEMPERATURES...VERY STRONG WIND
SHEAR AND INCREASING INSTABILITY WILL COMBINE WITH A STRONG JET
STREAM TO RESULT IN LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND POSSIBLY EVEN
A FEW TORNADOES.

THE STORMS SHOULD INITIALLY FORM NEAR INTERSTATE 70 AFTER
2 PM...THEN MOVE NORTH OR NORTHEAST AT 40 TO 50 MPH.  SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS COULD REACH AS FAR NORTH AS INTERSTATE 80 BY 4 PM
AND THEN TRACK INTO THE ORD AND GREELEY AREAS EARLY THIS EVENING.
THE MOST LIKELY AREA FOR SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE IN NORTH CENTRAL
KANSAS...WHERE MORE MOISTURE WILL BE AVAILABLE.

DDN
Special weather statement, Oct 4, 2:20 PM CDT, 52 minutes before
KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-051200-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
220 PM CDT SUN OCT 4 1998

...SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND PART OF
NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION....SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED
ACROSS PARTS OF THE REGION TODAY INTO THIS EVENING.

SYNOPSIS....

SCATTERED STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO
DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON OVER CENTRAL KANSAS...AND THEN MOVE NORTH
INTO SOUTHERN NEBRASKA BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER NORTHWEST KANSAS WILL MOVE
NORTHEAST TODAY...BRINGING A WARM FRONT NORTH INTO SOUTHERN NEBRASKA
BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON.  SEVERAL INGREDIENTS FOR THE RAPID
DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE STORMS WILL COME TOGETHER AS THIS OCCURS.
DESPITE THE CLOUD COVER AND COOL TEMPERATURES...VERY STRONG WIND
SHEAR AND INCREASING INSTABILITY WILL COMBINE WITH A STRONG JET
STREAM TO RESULT IN LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND POSSIBLY EVEN
A FEW TORNADOES.

THE MAIN AREA OF CONCERN FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS EAST
OF A LINE FROM OSBORNE KANSAS...TO KEARNEY...TO ORD.

DDN
Special weather statement, Oct 4, 2:20 PM CDT, 52 minutes before
KSZ005>007-017>019-NEZ039>041-046>049-060>064-072>077-082>087-051200-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
220 PM CDT SUN OCT 4 1998

...SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA AND PART OF
NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION....SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL LIKELY BE NEEDED
ACROSS PARTS OF THE REGION TODAY INTO THIS EVENING.

SYNOPSIS....

SCATTERED STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO
DEVELOP THIS AFTERNOON OVER CENTRAL KANSAS...AND THEN MOVE NORTH
INTO SOUTHERN NEBRASKA BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER NORTHWEST KANSAS WILL MOVE
NORTHEAST TODAY...BRINGING A WARM FRONT NORTH INTO SOUTHERN NEBRASKA
BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON.  SEVERAL INGREDIENTS FOR THE RAPID
DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE STORMS WILL COME TOGETHER AS THIS OCCURS.
DESPITE THE CLOUD COVER AND COOL TEMPERATURES...VERY STRONG WIND
SHEAR AND INCREASING INSTABILITY WILL COMBINE WITH A STRONG JET
STREAM TO RESULT IN LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND POSSIBLY EVEN
A FEW TORNADOES.

THE MAIN AREA OF CONCERN FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT IS EAST
OF A LINE FROM OSBORNE KANSAS...TO KEARNEY...TO ORD.

DDN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 4, 2:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDOsborne67 min
Oct 4, 2:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDJewell54 min
Oct 4, 2:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDMitchell66 min
Oct 4, 3:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDJewell35 min
Oct 4, 3:44 PM CDTTornado WarningGIDJewell46 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.