Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Hastings, NE

May 20, 2001Osborne County, Rooks County, Kansas

NWS Hastings, NE issued this tornado warning at May 20, 2001, 5:23 PM CDT for Osborne County, Rooks County, Kansas. It was in force for 52 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 20, 2001, 5:23 PM CDT (22:23 UTC)
Expired
May 20, 2001, 6:15 PM CDT
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Hastings, NE
Area
Whole counties

Counties Osborne County, KS, Rooks County, KS

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 120 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:23 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 nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 191 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, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 2001-05-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 2001-05-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 49 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-77 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
829 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
49 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
95 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 
WFUS53 KGID 202223
TORGRI
KSC141-163-202315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
523 PM CDT SUN MAY 20 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HASTINGS HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WESTERN OSBORNE COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS
  EASTERN ROOKS COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 615 PM CDT

* AT 518 PM CDT...TRAINED WEATHER SPOTTERS AND NATIONAL WEATHER
  SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 5 MILES SOUTH OF
  WOODSTON...OR ABOUT 28 MILES SOUTHEAST OF PHILLIPSBURG...MOVING
  SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS NEAR THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO INCLUDE CODELL...NATOMA
AND RURAL AREAS OF EASTERN ROOKS AND WESTERN OSBORNE COUNTY.

THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS SITUATION. A TORNADO HAS BEEN SIGHTED.
PEOPLE IN WESTERN OSBORNE AND EASTERN ROOKS COUNTY SHOULD TAKE 
SHELTER IMMEDIATELY IN A BASEMENT OR SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE 
LOWEST FLOOR.

IF IN A MOBILE HOME...LEAVE IT IMMEDIATELY AND GET INSIDE A STURDY
SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE NEAREST DITCH
AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

$$

&

LAT...LON 3954 9886 3953 9936 3915 9934 3915 9886

NNNN

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at May 20, 2:50 PM CDT, 2 hours 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 20, 2:50 PM CDT, 2 hours 33 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
250 PM CDT SUN MAY 20 2001

COLD FRONT AND ITS IMPLICATIONS THE FOCUS OF THIS FORECAST.

FRONT WAS SLICING ITS WAY ACROSS NW CWFA AT 19Z.  BROKEN LINE OF
SHOWERS/STORMS FORMING ALONG FRONT.  THIS LINE SHOULD FILL IN AS
DAYTIME HEATING CONTINUES TO DESTABILIZE THE ATMOSPHERE AND AS
BETTER MOISTURE IS ENCOUNTERED.  THIS LINE WILL ADD TO FAIRLY HEAVY
RAIN AMOUNTS SCATTERED ACROSS SE CWFA.  WILL BASE ZONE GROUPS ON
TIMING OF THIS PCPN THIS EVENING.  COULD NOT RULE OUT A SEVERE STORM
PRODUCING HAIL BUT WILL NOT MENTION IN TEXT OF ZONES TONIGHT.
NORTHWEST WINDS BEHIND THE FRONT WILL GUST TO AROUND 40 MPH THIS
EVENING BUT DOUBT IF WIND ADVISORY CRITERION WILL BE REACHED.

AS UPPER TROUGH AXIS PASSES OVERNIGHT...QUESTION AS TO WHETHER
ADDITIONAL PCPN...NOW IN NW NEBR/SW SDAK/ERN WY AREA...WILL AFFECT
CWFA.  WHILE LOW LEVEL MOISTURE GETS SCOURED OUT...UPPER LEVEL
DYNAMICS SHOULD BE EFFICIENT AT SQUEEZING OUT WHAT IS LEFT OVER.
BEST OVERALL SETUP LOOKS TO BE OVER SOUTHWEST CWFA.  WORDING WILL BE
TRICKY FOR TIMING OF PCPN HOWEVER.

HAVE REINTRODUCED SLGT CHC OF AFTERNOON SHOWERS MONDAY AS COLD POOL
ALOFT PASSES BY.  ETA FORECAST SOUNDINGS SHOW A LAYER OF LOW LEVEL
MOISTURE AND STEEP LAPSE RATES.  EVEN CAPES OF 100-200 J/KG ARE
EVIDENT BY LATE IN THE DAY.  SHOWERS/SQUALLS WILL HAVE POTENTIAL
FOR WIND GUSTS TO 40 MPH.

REST OF FORECAST PERIOD WILL REMAIN WITH DRY WORDING.  MODELS
HANDLING OF UPPER LOW INTO ERN US HAS COME INTO BETTER AGREEMENT...
HOWEVER TIMING OF ANY IMPULSES ROTATING AROUND THE CENTER IS IN
QUESTION AND MOISTURE AVAILABILITY APPEARS SUSPECT.

TEMPWISE...ETA LOW LEVEL PROGS ARE WARMER AND APPEAR MORE REASONABLE
THAN THE AVN/NGM. THIS FITS IN WITH RECENT RELEASE CONCERNING AVN
LOW LEVEL COOL TEMP BIAS MENTIONED BY LBF IN COORDINATION CALL.
THEREFORE MAV/FAN GUIDANCE THROWN OUT.  EVEN THOUGH BASED ON THE
NGM...WARMER FWC NUMBERS ACTUALLY MATCH ETA PROGS PRETTY WELL AND
ARE PREFERRED.  MORE SPECIFICALLY FOR TONIGHT...WINDS SHOULD KEEP
AIR MIXED ENOUGH TO KEEP TEMPS FROM FALLING TOO FAR.

.GID...NONE.

DROZD

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 20, 5:02 PM CDT, 21 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE
502 PM CDT SUN MAY 20 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0458 PM    STOCKTON                  KS    TORNADO
05/20/01   ROOKS                           NUMEROUS REPORTS OF A
                                           TORNADO NORHTHWEST OF
                                           TOWN

The office that day

Everything else NWS Hastings, NE issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 20, 4:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDPhillips, Rooks43 min
May 20, 4:21 PM CDTTornado WarningGIDPhillips24 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 2001Every tornado warning in 2001Tornadoes in 2001

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.