Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 2001
Tornado Warning 15, NWS Wichita, KS
NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at May 20, 2001, 6:47 PM CDT for Barton County, Russell County, Kansas. It was in force for 43 min. 3 reports came from 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, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- May 20, 2001, 6:47 PM CDT (23:47 UTC)
- Expired
- May 20, 2001, 7:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 43 min
- Issued by
- NWS Wichita, KS
- Area
- Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction
Counties Barton County, KS, Russell County, KS
The radar
The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 152 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:50 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 20, 6:47 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Milberger, KS | Reported by KWCH-12 spotter, initial touchdown occurred just north of Russell/Barton County line with tornado lifting 0.5 mile south of this border. |
| May 20, 6:48 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Millard, KS | Reported by KWCH-12 spotter, this is the same brief tornado that begin 1 mile south of Milberger in extreme southwest Russell County. |
| May 20, 6:49 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Galatia, KS | Reported by KWCH-12 spotter, initial touchdown occurred just south of Russell/Barton County line. The tornado remained in northwest Barton County. |
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 nearest sounding before it
Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 147 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WFUS53 KICT 202348 TORICT KSC009-167-210030- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS 647 PM CDT SUN MAY 20 2001 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WICHITA HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... BARTON COUNTY IN CENTRAL KANSAS RUSSELL COUNTY IN CENTRAL KANSAS * UNTIL 730 PM CDT * AT 647 PM CDT A TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTED A TORNADO NEAR MILBERGER. RADAR SHOWED THIS TORNADIC STORM MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. MOVE INTO YOUR TORNADO SHELTER NOW! REPEATING...A TORNADO WARNING HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR BARTON AND RUSSELL COUNTIES UNTIL 730 PM CDT. LAT...LON 3903 9867 3870 9908 3834 9899 3867 9847 /FINCH & NNNN
The office that day
Everything else NWS Wichita, KS issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 4:19 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Butler | 56 min |
| May 20, 4:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Cowley | 58 min |
| May 20, 5:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Greenwood | 60 min |
| May 20, 5:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Cowley | 59 min |
| May 20, 6:00 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Russell | 45 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.