Alert archive / Kansas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1998

Flash Flood Warning 22, NWS Goodland, KS

August 4, 1998Decatur County, Rawlins County, Kansas

NWS Goodland, KS issued this flash flood warning at Aug 4, 1998, 7:50 PM CDT for Decatur County, Rawlins County, Kansas. It was in force for 12 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Aug 4, 1998, 7:50 PM CDT (00:50 UTC)
Expired
Aug 5, 1998, 8:00 AM CDT
In force
12 hr
Issued by
NWS Goodland, KS
Area
Whole counties

Counties Decatur County, KS, Rawlins County, KS

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:53 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.

The nearest sounding before it

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 150 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 1998-08-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 19 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1998-08-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -45 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
19 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-13 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
937 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
1 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-45 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-38 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.

000 
TTAA00 KGLD 050051
FFWGLD
KSC039-153-051300-

FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
650 PM MDT (750 PM CDT) TUE AUG 4 1998

...FLOOD WARNING ISSUED FOR THE NORTH FORK OF THE SAPPA CREEK...
INCLUDING WESTERN DECATUR AND SOUTHEAST RAWLINS COUNTY UNTIL 800
AM CDT...

AT 730 PM CDT...DECATUR COUNTY ROAD OFFICIALS REPORTED THAT THE
NORTH FORK OF THE SAPPA CREEK 4 TO 6 MILES WEST OF OBERLIN WAS WELL
OUT OF ITS BANKS. THE RIVER WAS OUT OF ITS BANKS AS FAR WEST AS
SOUTHEASTERN RAWLINS COUNTY.

THE CREEK WILL REMAIN OUT OF ITS BANKS THROUGH THE EARLY MORNING
HOURS ON WEDNESDAY. THE CREEK WILL THEN BEGIN TO RECEDE AFTER 800 AM
CDT...REDUCING THE IMPACT OF FLOODING ALONG THE CREEK.

DURING THE DARKNESS OF NIGHT...FLOODED SECTIONS OF ROAD MAY NOT BE
VISIBLE TO MOTORISTS. SOME ROADWAYS MAY EVEN BE CLOSED. DO NOT DRIVE
YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROADWAY.  THE WATER
DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES
CAUGHXT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER
GROUND.

MANNING

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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 flash flood warning went out at Aug 4, 2:54 PM CDT, 4 hours 56 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 4, 2:54 PM CDT, 4 hours 56 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION...REMOVED DOUBLE WORDS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GOODLAND KS
154 PM MDT (254 PM CDT) TUE AUG 4 1998

...GREATEST CHALLENGE IS CHANCE OF RAIN TONIGHT...

THE UPPER LEVEL PATTERN THIS MORNING WAS SIMILAR TO YESTERDAY MORNING
WITH A LOW OVER EASTERN NEBRASKA. THE LOW HAS BEEN MOVING SOUTH AT 7
MPH AND SHOULD CONTINUE TO TRACK SOUTH SOUTHEAST TO ABOUT KANSAS
CITY BY WEDNESDAY MORNING ACCORDING TO 500 MB 24 HOUR HEIGHT CHANGE
ANALYSIS. THIS SHOULD KEEP NORTHERLY WINDS INTO THE ATMOSPHERIC MID
LEVELS AND KEEP A NEARLY SATURATED AIRMASS OVER THE HIGH PLAINS. LBF
700 MB DEW POINT UP 3 DEGREES C FROM 3/12Z.

THE ALL MODELS HAVING GREAT DIFFICULTY WITH CLOUD AND PRECIPITATION
FIELDS OVER THE WESTERN HIGH PLAINS DURING THE LAST FEW RUNS. EVEN
THE LATEST RUNS (4/12Z-4/18Z) WERE VERY MISREPRESENTATIVE WITH
PRECIPITATION FIELDS AT ONLY 6 HOURS INTO THE FORECAST...ESPECIALLY
OVER EASTERN COLORADO. THE ETA DOES THE BEST WITH THE DEFORMATION
ZONE SET UP BASICALLY OVER INTERSTATE 70 ACROSS THE COUNTY WARNING
AREA. BOTH THE NGM AND ETA HAVE GENERALLY BEEN TOO HIGH WITH
PRECIPITATION AMOUNTS LAST 3 RUNS...HOWEVER...BURLINGTON COLORADO
PICKED UP A QUICK .13 INCH AFTER 18Z.

WILL KEEP HIGHEST RAIN CHANCES OVER EASTERN COLORADO TONIGHT WHERE
STEEPEST LAPSE RATE AND HEART OF DEFORMATION ZONE ARE EXPECTED TO
BE. EXPECT LOSS OF HEATING WILL END SHOWERS OVER EASTERN AREAS
(HLC/MCK) BY LATE EVENING. WIDELY SHOWERS EXPECTED AGAIN WEDNESDAY
OVER EASTERN COLORADO AS THE UPPER LEVEL PATTERN CHANGES LITTLE.
THE CLOUDS SHOULD REMAIN THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON...THEN SOME
BREAKS ARE EXPECTED BY THURSDAY AS THE UPPER LEVEL RIDGE AFFECTS THE
AREA.

AS FOR TEMPERATURES...NGM HAVING DIFFICULTY WITH FWC NUMBERS. LAST
NIGHT...THE 3/12Z RUN FORECAST A 57 MINIMUM WITH CLOUDY SKIES. THE
TEMPERATURES ONLY DROPPED TO 59 UNDER A CLEAR SKY. EXPECT THIS IS
DUE TO DEEP MOISTURE WELL INTO MID LEVELS...SO WILL RAISE GUIDANCE
SIGNIFICANTLY ABOVE NGM MOS...ESPECIALLY FOR GOODLAND. HIGH
TEMPERATURE GUIDANCE VERY UNSTABLE WITH A 9 DEGREE CHANGE AT HLC IN
12 HOURS. WILL TEND TOWARD CURRENT TRENDS WITH A SMALLER DIURNAL
RANGE.

.GLD...NONE.

SKIPPER

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Kansas, 1998Every flash flood 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.