Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 274, NWS Wichita, KS

September 30, 1998McPherson County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 30, 1998, 12:49 AM CDT for McPherson County, Kansas. It was in force for 51 min. 2 reports 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: Sep 30, 1998, 12:49 AM CDT (05:49 UTC)
Expired: Sep 30, 1998, 1:40 AM CDT
In force: 51 min
Issued by: NWS Wichita, KS
Area: Whole counties

County McPherson County, KS

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:48 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
Sep 30, 1:01 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 65	Windom, KS	Grain bins blown over, power lines and power poles blown down, houses sustained damage to roofs, siding and windows, and vehicles had windows blown out.
Sep 30, 1:04 AM CDT	Hail 1	Windom, 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Sep 29, 9:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 187 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: 23 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -161 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2326 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 15 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 9 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

988 
WUUS1 KICT 300550 RRA
SVRICT
KSC113-300640-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
1249 AM CDT WED SEP 30 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA KS HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  MCPHERSON COUNTY IN CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 140 AM CDT
 
* AT 1249 AM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST EAST
  OF INMAN OR 10 MILES SOUTH OF MCPHERSON...MOVING TO THE EAST AT
  15 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL AFFECT...
  MOUND RIDGE

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM...BE PREPARED FOR WINDS IN
EXCESS OF 55 MPH AND HAIL UP TO ONE INCH IN DIAMETER.  IF YOU ARE
CAUGHT OUTSIDE...MOVE TO AN INDOOR SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.


MARIEN

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 Wichita, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Sep 29, 3:08 PM CDT, 9 hours 41 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 29, 3:08 PM CDT, 9 hours 41 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
308 PM CDT TUE SEP 29 1998

MAIN PROBLEM WILL BE TEMPERATURES.

AN UPPER LEVEL SUB TROPICAL HIGH REMAINS INTACT THROUGH F48 ACROSS
THE HIGH PLAINS OF TX WITH A DEEPENING LOW IN THE DESERT SOUTHWEST.
THE WIND FLOW PATTERN WILL ADVECT PLENTY OF MID LEVEL MOISTURE INTO
THE CWA BY F24.  THIS TREND SEEMS REASONABLE PER THE LATEST
SATTELITE PICTURES.

THE WEAK TROF OVER NORTHERN KS WILL WASH OUT OVERNIGHT AS LOW
PRESSURE DEVELOPS IN THE VICINITY OF CNK.  WITH DECENT SOUTH FLOW
ACROSS KS...I EXPECT THUNDERSTORMS TO FIRE ACROSS THE NORTHERN
SECTIONS OF KS AND SOUTHERN NE.  THICKNESS PATTERNS WOULD YIELD AN
EAST OR JUST SLIGHTLY SOUTH OF EAST MOVEMENT.  HOWEVER...PER THE
PAST COUPLE OF DAYS...I WILL KEEP SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR THE SC AND
SE SECTIONS DUE TO THE DIABATIC HEATING AND VERY UNSTABLE CONDITIONS
THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE THE CHANCE INTO THE EVENING. CAPES ARE
PRESENTLY RUNNING AROUND 5000 JUST SOUTH OF THE BORDER WITH LI/S TO
MINUS 8.  THESE VALUES SHOULD INCREASE WITH MORE HEATING.

THE NGM PROG FOR FRONTAL POSTITION BY F36 HAS THE FRONT JUST THROUGH
CENTRAL KANSAS.  THIS POSITION SHOULD NOT HINDER TEMPERATURES IN THE
SC AND SE SECTIONS OF THE CWA AND SLIGHTLY OVER THE CENTRAL
SECTIONS.  THEREFORE...I MAY TEND TO BE SLIGHTLY WARMER THAN
GUIDANCE IN THE SOUTHERN HALF AND NEAR GUIDANCE IN THE CENTRAL
SECTIONS.  THE MODEL DOES NOT SEEM TO POOL ANY LOW LEVEL MOISTURE
AHEAD OF THE FRONT AT THIS TIME...HOWEVER...WITH STRONG DYNAMICAL
FORCING PRESENT...I WILL CARRY POPS THROUGH WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND
NIGHT.  WITH FRONTAL PASSAGE AT ALL AREAS BY F42 DECENT NORTHEAST
FLOW WILL PRODUCE SOME SLIGHT UPSLOPE...WHICH COMBINED WITH A
SATURATED ATMOSPHERE WILL INDUCE A THICK CLOUD DECK AND SOME
STRATIFORM TYPE PRECIPITATION.  COLD AIR...COMPARED TO THE PAST FEW
DAYS...WILL THEN SINK SOUTH OUT OF CANADA AND BRING A DRASTIC CHANGE
FOR THE CWA.  I AM A BIT HESITANT TOO DROP TEMPERATURES AS MUCH AS
GUIDANCE SUGGESTS...HOWEVER...ALL MODELS DO AGREE WITH SIMILAR
READINGS.

EXTENDED...
I WILL TRIM THE TEMPERATURES BACK A BIT DUE TO THE COLD AIR WHICH IS
FILTERING INTO THE CWA.  RETURN FLOW SHOULD WARM THE TEMPERATURES
BACK TO NORMAL SATURDAY AND SUNDAY.

CHANCE

FCSTID = 1
ICT   68  87  56  66 /  20  30  50  30
HUT   64  83  52  64 /  30  50  30  30
EWK   64  83  52  64 /  30  50  30  30
EQA   68  87  56  66 /  20  30  50  30
WLD   69  88  57  67 /  20  30  50  30
RSL   63  80  50  61 /  30  50  30  30
GBD   64  80  50  61 /  30  50  30  30
SLN   64  82  51  63 /  30  50  30  30
MPR   64  83  52  64 /  30  50  30  30
CFV   67  88  56  67 /  20  30P  40  30
CNU   66  87  55  66 /  20  30  40  30
K88   66  87  55  66 /  20  30  40  30

.ICT...NONE.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 29, 11:44 PM CDT, 1 hour 5 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
1144 PM CDT TUE SEP 29 1998

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0704 PM    4 N ALBERT                KS   1.00 INCH HAIL
09/29/98   BARTON                         REPORTED BY AGTAP OBSERVER

0710 PM    6 W HOISINGTON            KS   1.75 INCH HAIL
09/29/98   BARTON                         REPORTED BY SHERIFFS OFFICE

0731 PM    HOISINGTON                KS   TORNADO
09/29/98   BARTON                         TORNADO ON THE GROUND JUST SOUTH OF
                                          HOISINGTON.  REPORTED BY AGTAP
                                          OBSERVER.

0731 PM    6 NW GREAT BEND           KS   1.75 INCH HAIL
09/29/98   BARTON                         REPORTED BY AGTAP OBSERVER

0733 PM    2 S HOISINGTON            KS   TORNADO
09/29/98   BARTON                         TORNADO REPORTED ON THE GROUND BY
                                          AGTAP OBSERVER

0753 PM    GREAT BEND                KS   1.00 INCH HAIL
09/29/98   BARTON                         REPORTED BY BARTON COUNTY 911.

0758 PM    4 NE GREAT BEND           KS   1.75 INCH HAIL
09/29/98   BARTON                         REPORTED BY AGTAP OBSERVER.

0804 PM    MADISON                   KS   0.75 INCH HAIL
09/29/98   GREENWOOD                      REPORTED BY GREENWOOD COUNTY 911.

0811 PM    ELLINWOOD                 KS   1.25 INCH HAIL
09/29/98   BARTON                         REPORTED BY TRAINED SPOTTER.

0919 PM    BUFFALO                   KS   1.00 INCH HAIL
09/29/98   WILSON                         1 INCH HAIL COVERING THE GROUND.
                                          REPORETED BY AGTAP OBSERVER.

0922 PM    10 W CHANUTE              KS   1.00 INCH HAIL
09/29/98   WILSON                         REPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.

0930 PM    3 SE GREAT BEND           KS   WIND DAMAGE
09/29/98   BARTON                         BARN BLOWN OVER.   REPORTED BY LAW
                                          ENFORCEMENT.

0950 PM    CHANUTE                   KS   0.75 INCH HAIL
09/29/98   NEOSHO                         REPORTED BY LAW ENFORCEMENT.

0950 PM    8 SE CHANUTE              KS   1.00 INCH HAIL
09/29/98   NEOSHO                         REPORTED BY AGTAP OBSERVER.

1010 PM    THAYER                    KS   WIND DAMAGE
09/29/98   NEOSHO                         10 INCH TREES BLOWN DOWN REPORTED BY
                                          LAW ENFORCEMENT.

MRU

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 29, 7:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Barton	45 min
Sep 29, 7:13 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	Barton	32 min
Sep 29, 7:42 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	Barton	33 min
Sep 29, 7:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Greenwood	48 min
Sep 29, 8:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Barton	49 min
Sep 29, 8:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Rice	58 min
Sep 29, 9:03 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Wilson, Woodson	47 min
Sep 29, 9:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Barton	48 min
Sep 29, 9:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Neosho	48 min
Sep 29, 11:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	McPherson, Rice	63 min
Sep 30, 12:04 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Allen	51 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.