Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1999

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 87, NWS Wichita, KS

May 17, 1999Allen County, Labette County, Neosho County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 1999, 1:35 AM CDT for Allen County, Labette County, Neosho County, Kansas. It was in force for 55 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
May 17, 1999, 1:35 AM CDT (06:35 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 1999, 2:30 AM CDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Wichita, KS
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Allen County, KS, Labette County, KS, Neosho County, KS

The radar

The Tulsa radar (KINX), 154 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:34 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 17, 1:35 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Erie, KSLarge tree blown into a house in Erie.

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 17, 12:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Springfield, MO (KSGF), launched 00:00Z, 6.6 hours before the alert went out and 151 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, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 1999-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1195 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, Springfield, MO at 00:00Z on 1999-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 127 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1195 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-162 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1564 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
127 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
275 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
7.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 May 17, 1:30 AM CDT, 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 17, 1:30 AM CDT, 5 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 16, 10:09 PM CDT, 3 hours 26 minutes before
KSZ048>053-170330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
1009 PM CDT SUN MAY 16 1999

...TORNADO WATCH 273 HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO EXPIRE...

THE STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER CENTRAL KANSAS HAVE
WEAKENED. THEREFORE...TORNADO WATCH 273 ISSUED FOR ELLSWORTH...
RICE...MCPHERSON...SALINE...MARION AND CHASE COUNTIES UNTIL 10PM HAS
BEEN ALLOWED TO EXPIRE.

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS REMAIN POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT ACROSS CENTRAL
KANSAS.

RUNYAN
Special weather statement, May 16, 10:09 PM CDT, 3 hours 26 minutes before
KSZ048>053-170330-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
1009 PM CDT SUN MAY 16 1999

...TORNADO WATCH 273 HAS BEEN ALLOWED TO EXPIRE...

THE STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER CENTRAL KANSAS HAVE
WEAKENED. THEREFORE...TORNADO WATCH 273 ISSUED FOR ELLSWORTH...
RICE...MCPHERSON...SALINE...MARION AND CHASE COUNTIES UNTIL 10PM HAS
BEEN ALLOWED TO EXPIRE.

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS REMAIN POSSIBLE OVERNIGHT ACROSS CENTRAL
KANSAS.

RUNYAN
Special weather statement, May 16, 11:16 PM CDT, 2 hours 19 minutes before
KSZ032-033-047>053-067>072-082-083-091>096-098>100-170445-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
1116 PM CDT SUN MAY 16 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS DEACTIVATED OUR SKYWARN
SPOTTER NETWORK.
Special weather statement, May 16, 11:16 PM CDT, 2 hours 19 minutes before
KSZ032-033-047>053-067>072-082-083-091>096-098>100-170445-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
1116 PM CDT SUN MAY 16 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS DEACTIVATED OUR SKYWARN
SPOTTER NETWORK.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 7:07 PM CDTTornado WarningICTKingman53 min
May 16, 7:26 PM CDTTornado WarningICTMarion64 min
May 16, 7:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSedgwick65 min
May 16, 7:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTKingman, Reno65 min
May 16, 8:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSedgwick65 min
May 16, 8:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMcPherson, Marion63 min
May 16, 8:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTKingman65 min
May 16, 9:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTKingman63 min
May 16, 10:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSedgwick66 min
May 16, 10:45 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningICTSedgwick3 hr
May 16, 11:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTBarton61 min
May 17, 12:08 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSaline67 min
May 17, 12:21 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTEllsworth, Rice54 min
May 17, 12:33 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningICTSedgwick6 hr
May 17, 12:56 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMontgomery64 min
May 17, 12:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMcPherson62 min
May 17, 1:07 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTEllsworth, Saline68 min
May 17, 2:56 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningICTSedgwick6 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kansas, 1999Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1999

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.