Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 45, NWS Wichita, KS

October 4, 1998Cowley County, Sumner County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at Oct 4, 1998, 5:38 PM CDT for Cowley County, Sumner County, Kansas. It was in force for 67 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, 5:38 PM CDT (22:38 UTC)
Expired: Oct 4, 1998, 6:45 PM CDT
In force: 67 min
Issued by: NWS Wichita, KS
Area: Whole counties

Counties Cowley County, KS, Sumner County, KS

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 53 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:38 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
Oct 4, 6:22 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Maple City, 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
Oct 4, 2:30 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Norman, OK (KOUN), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 225 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: 2763 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -38 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 704 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 253 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 289 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 2.3
Supercell composite: 14.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KICT 042240 RRA
TORICT
KSC035-191-042345-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
538 PM CDT SUN OCT 4 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
     SOUTHEAST SUMNER COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS
     SOUTHERN COWLEY COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 645 PM CDT

* AT 538 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 11 MILES WEST OF ARKANSAS     
  CITY...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES PER HOUR.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED BY THIS STORM INCLUDE...
     ARKANSAS CITY
     GEUDA SPRINGS
     SOUTH HAVEN

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWA.Y FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

HYSELL

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 4, 2:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	McPherson	39 min
Oct 4, 2:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Kingman, Reno	66 min
Oct 4, 3:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Kingman, Reno	53 min
Oct 4, 3:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Harvey	44 min
Oct 4, 3:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Sedgwick	57 min
Oct 4, 3:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	McPherson	65 min
Oct 4, 5:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Harvey	53 min
Oct 4, 5:45 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	ICT	Butler, Marion	3 hr
Oct 4, 6:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Chautauqua	59 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1998 Every tornado warning in 1998 Tornadoes 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.