Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Wichita, KS

May 11, 1998Ellsworth County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at May 11, 1998, 8:12 PM CDT for Ellsworth County, Kansas. It was in force for 63 min. 3 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 11, 1998, 8:12 PM CDT (01:12 UTC)
Expired: May 11, 1998, 9:15 PM CDT
In force: 63 min
Issued by: NWS Wichita, KS
Area: Whole counties

County Ellsworth County, KS

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 134 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:14 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
May 11, 8:14 PM CDT	Tornado F1	Ellsworth, KS	Extensive damage to farm outbuildings, trucks and a camper.
May 11, 8:34 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Lorraine, KS
May 11, 8:49 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Lorraine, 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
May 11, 6:45 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 00:00Z, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 180 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 3561 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 78 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 KICT 120112 RRA
TORICT
KSC053-120215-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
812 PM CDT MON MAY 11 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA KS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  ELLSWORTH COUNTY IN CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 915 PM CDT
 
* AT 810 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A STORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A
  TORNADO JUST WEST OF ELLSWORTH OR 25 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
  RUSSELL...MOVING TO THE EAST AT 15 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO AFFECT...
  ELLSWORTH
  KANOPOLIS
  KANOPLOIS LAKE
  LORRAINE

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO
TO A STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A
TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

MARIEN

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 11, 7:05 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	Barton, Russell	60 min
May 11, 7:10 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	Ellsworth, Lincoln	60 min
May 11, 8:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Rice	62 min
May 11, 8:42 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	Saline	63 min
May 11, 9:17 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	Rice	48 min
May 11, 9:21 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	McPherson	64 min
May 11, 10:24 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	McPherson	46 min
May 11, 10:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Marion	60 min
May 11, 11:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Harvey	63 min
May 11, 11:33 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Marion	47 min
May 12, 12:20 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Marion	60 min
May 12, 12:51 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Chase	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.