Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Wichita, KS

May 31, 1999Saline County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1999, 10:45 PM CDT for Saline County, Kansas. It was in force for 45 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties.

The facts

Issued
May 31, 1999, 10:45 PM CDT (03:45 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1999, 11:30 PM CDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Wichita, KS
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Saline County, KS

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 122 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:46 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 31, 9:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 178 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, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 1999-06-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 564 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, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 1999-06-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 85 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
564 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-167 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
963 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
85 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
191 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
2.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

999 
WFUS1 KICT 010346 RRA
TORICT
KSC169-010430-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
1045 PM CDT MON MAY 31 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 1130 PM CDT

* AT 1042 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION OVER SMOLAN...OR ABOUT 6
  MILES SOUTHWEST OF SALINA...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. THIS STORM COULD
  PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY TIME.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE...
  NEAR ASSARIA AROUND 1055 PM CDT
  NEAR GYPSUM  AROUND 1115 PM CDT

THIS WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING PREVIOUSLY 
ISSUED FOR THE WARNED AREA AT 1005 PM CDT.

VERY LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS ARE ALSO EXPECTED
WITH THIS STORM.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW
SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

LAT...LON 3884 9777 3867 9784 3860 9751 3876 9744
ES

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 31, 7:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTRussell45 min
May 31, 8:27 PM CDTTornado WarningICTRussell63 min
May 31, 8:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTLincoln55 min
May 31, 9:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTEllsworth59 min
May 31, 10:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSaline56 min
May 31, 11:00 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningICTSaline2 hr
Jun 1, 1:09 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTRussell66 min
Jun 1, 1:23 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTBarton, Ellsworth67 min
Jun 1, 1:23 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTLincoln67 min
Jun 1, 1:49 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTRice56 min
Jun 1, 2:24 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMcPherson, Saline51 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.