Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 18, NWS Wichita, KS

May 24, 1998Sumner County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at May 24, 1998, 7:34 PM CDT for Sumner County, Kansas. It was in force for 66 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
May 24, 1998, 7:34 PM CDT (00:34 UTC)
Expired
May 24, 1998, 8:40 PM CDT
In force
66 min
Issued by
NWS Wichita, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Sumner County, KS

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:36 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
May 24, 8:07 PM CDTHail 1.75Milton, KS
May 24, 8:47 PM CDTHail 4Oxford, 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
May 24, 5:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 00:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 222 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 1998-05-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1643 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 1998-05-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 10 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
1643 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1473 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
141 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
5.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KICT 250034 RRA
TORICT
KSC191-250140-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
734 PM CDT SUN MAY 24 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA KS HAS REISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SUMNER COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 840 PM CDT
 
* AT 733 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR
  ARGONIA...25 MILES   SOUTHWEST OF WICHITA...MOVING TO THE EAST
  SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH. VERY LARGE HAIL IS ALSO LIKELY WITH THIS
  STORM.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  ARGONIA
  MILAN
  WELLINGTON
  PERTH

THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS STORM.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE IN THE
PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF AVAILABLE.
OTHERWISE... GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A
STURDIER BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

WOLF

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 7:03 PM CDTTornado WarningICTSedgwick, Sumner57 min
May 24, 7:10 PM CDTTornado WarningICTHarper45 min
May 24, 7:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMcPherson, Saline63 min
May 24, 7:19 PM CDTTornado WarningICTKingman61 min
May 24, 7:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTCowley62 min
May 24, 7:30 PM CDTTornado WarningICTCowley60 min
May 24, 7:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSedgwick62 min
May 24, 7:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTChautauqua, Montgomery62 min
May 24, 8:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTHarper67 min
May 24, 8:28 PM CDTTornado WarningICTCowley62 min
May 24, 8:37 PM CDTTornado WarningICTSumner63 min
May 24, 8:49 PM CDTTornado WarningICTHarper61 min
May 24, 8:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMontgomery49 min
May 24, 9:04 PM CDTTornado WarningICTMontgomery46 min
May 24, 9:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTCowley62 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.