Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Watches in 1999

Tornado Watch 209

May 4, 199936 counties in Kansas; 20 counties in Nebraska

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 4, 1999, 1:15 PM CDT for 36 counties in Kansas; 20 counties in Nebraska. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 4, 1999, 1:15 PM CDT (18:15 UTC)
Expired
May 4, 1999, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 56 counties

Barton County, KS, Butler County, KS, Chase County, KS, Chautauqua County, KS, Clay County, KS, Cloud County, KS, Cowley County, KS, Dickinson County, KS, Elk County, KS, Ellsworth County, KS, Geary County, KS, Greenwood County, KS, Harvey County, KS, Jewell County, KS, Kingman County, KS, Lincoln County, KS, Marion County, KS, McPherson County, KS, Mitchell County, KS, Montgomery County, KS, Morris County, KS, Osborne County, KS, Ottawa County, KS, Phillips County, KS, Reno County, KS, Republic County, KS, Rice County, KS, Riley County, KS, Rooks County, KS, Russell County, KS, Saline County, KS, Sedgwick County, KS, Smith County, KS, Sumner County, KS, Washington County, KS, Wilson County, KS, Adams County, NE, Buffalo County, NE, Clay County, NE, Custer County, NE, Dawson County, NE, Fillmore County, NE, Franklin County, NE, Gosper County, NE, Hall County, NE, Hamilton County, NE, Harlan County, NE, Howard County, NE, Kearney County, NE, Merrick County, NE, Nance County, NE, Nuckolls County, NE, Phelps County, NE, Sherman County, NE, Thayer County, NE, Webster County, NE

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:14 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.

Warnings issued inside it

21 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 4, 1:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTReno30 min
May 4, 1:36 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLBFCuster, Garfield, Loup3 hr
May 4, 1:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMcPherson46 min
May 4, 1:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTRussell30 min
May 4, 2:04 PM CDTTornado WarningICTMcPherson26 min
May 4, 2:10 PM CDTTornado WarningICTEllsworth, Saline50 min
May 4, 2:26 PM CDTTornado WarningICTMcPherson49 min
May 4, 2:30 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningGIDSmith3 hr
May 4, 2:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDMitchell51 min
May 4, 2:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTLincoln32 min
May 4, 3:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDickinson38 min
May 4, 3:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSaline35 min
May 4, 3:18 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPDickinson32 min
May 4, 3:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDickinson42 min
May 4, 4:28 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPDickinson, Geary37 min
May 4, 4:31 PM CDTTornado WarningICTMarion29 min
May 4, 4:37 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPMorris43 min
May 4, 5:08 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPGeary, Riley32 min
May 4, 5:17 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPGeary, Morris38 min
May 4, 5:20 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningGIDSmith3 hr
May 4, 5:49 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPGeary, Riley, Wabaunsee46 min

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 6.3 hours before the alert went out and 214 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 12:00Z on 1999-05-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 1999-05-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 371 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1839 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
371 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
488 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

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.

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 3, 7:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBarber, Butler, Chase, Clay, Cloud, Cowley and 28 more5 hr
May 4, 12:00 AM CDTTornado WatchSPCAllen, Anderson, Bourbon, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua and 22 more5 hr
May 3, 9:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBoyd, Cedar5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Kansas, 1999Tornado Watches in Nebraska, 1999Every tornado watch 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.