Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Kansas City, MO

May 11, 2000Leavenworth County, Kansas

NWS Kansas City, MO issued this tornado warning at May 11, 2000, 9:31 PM CDT for Leavenworth County, Kansas. It was in force for 44 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, 2000, 9:31 PM CDT (02:31 UTC)
Expired: May 11, 2000, 10:15 PM CDT
In force: 44 min
Issued by: NWS Kansas City, MO
Area: Whole counties

County Leavenworth County, KS

The radar

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 80 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:31 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, 9:40 PM CDT	Tornado F1	Tonganoxie, KS	The tornado, which had formed in Jefferson County, entered southwestern Leavenworth County at around 9:40 pm CDT, 6 miles west-southwest of Tonganoxie. The tornado moved east-northeast and lifted 2 miles north of Basehor at 10:12 pm. The 16 mile long path wa
May 11, 9:51 PM CDT	Hail 1	Springdale, KS
May 11, 9:57 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 60 E	Tonganoxie, KS	Law enforcement officials estimated 70 mph wind gusts just west of Tonganoxie.

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, 7:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 2.5 hours before the alert went out and 56 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: 4491 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -13 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1450 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 181 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 232 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 3.3
Supercell composite: 30.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS53 KEAX 120231
TORMCI
KSC103-120315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY/PLEASANT HILL MO
931 PM CDT THU MAY 11 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PLEASANT HILL HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN LEAVENWORTH COUNTY IN NORTHEAST KANSAS

* UNTIL 1015 PM CDT

* AT 931 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  DEVELOPING TORNADO 11 MILES WEST OF RENO...OR 8 MILES SOUTH OF   
  OSKALOOSA...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH. THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF 
  PRODUCING A TORNADO AND VERY LARGE HAIL!

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  RENO AT 950 PM CDT
  JARBALO AT 955 PM CDT
  BASEHOR AT 1000 PM CDT

OTHER LOCATIONS IN THIS WARNING INCLUDE TONGANOXIE.

WHEN A TORNADO WARNING IS ISSUED BASED ON DOPPLER RADAR...IT MEANS
THAT STRONG ROTATION HAS BEEN DETECTED IN THE STORM. A TORNADO MAY
NOT BE OCCURRING WHEN THE WARNING IS ISSUED...BUT ONE IS EXPECTED TO
DEVELOP. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS DANGEROUS STORM...MOVE
INDOORS AND TO THE LOWEST LEVEL OF THE BUILDING. STAY AWAY FROM
WINDOWS. IF DRIVING...DO NOT DRIVE INTO THIS STORM AND DO NOT SEEK
SHELTER UNDER A HIGHWAY OVERPASS!

LAT...LON/ 3921 9520 3902 9520 3900 9492 3924 9494

BUNTING

The office that day

Everything else NWS Kansas City, MO issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 11, 7:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Atchison, Doniphan	27 min
May 11, 7:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Atchison	31 min
May 11, 8:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Atchison	45 min
May 11, 10:00 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Leavenworth, Wyandotte	45 min
May 11, 10:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Johnson	52 min
May 11, 11:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Johnson, Wyandotte	60 min
May 12, 12:18 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Atchison	42 min
May 12, 12:43 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	EAX	Atchison, Leavenworth	62 min
May 12, 1:23 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EAX	Doniphan	52 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 2000 Every tornado warning in 2000 Tornadoes in 2000

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.