Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Watches in 2004
Tornado Watch 279
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 24, 2004, 4:30 PM CDT for 22 counties in Kansas. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 24, 2004, 4:30 PM CDT (21:30 UTC)
- Expired
- May 24, 2004, 10:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 22 counties
Allen County, KS, Anderson County, KS, Bourbon County, KS, Butler County, KS, Chautauqua County, KS, Cherokee County, KS, Cowley County, KS, Crawford County, KS, Elk County, KS, Greenwood County, KS, Harper County, KS, Harvey County, KS, Kingman County, KS, Labette County, KS, Linn County, KS, Montgomery County, KS, Neosho County, KS, Reno County, KS, Sedgwick County, KS, Sumner County, KS, Wilson County, KS, Woodson County, KS
The radar
The Wichita radar (KICT), 46 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:31 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.
Warnings issued inside it
5 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 24, 8:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Chase, Sedgwick, Sumner | 60 min |
| May 24, 8:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Butler | 53 min |
| May 24, 9:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Greenwood | 62 min |
| May 24, 9:22 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Sedgwick | 68 min |
| May 24, 9:36 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Butler | 39 min |
Discussions around it
SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.
The nearest sounding before it
Lamont, OK (KLMN), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 134 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
- 2885 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -156 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 914 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 48 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 219 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 228 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 8.8
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 242127
SEL9
SPC WW 242130
KSZ000-250300-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 279
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
430 PM CDT MON MAY 24 2004
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
SOUTHEASTERN KANSAS
EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 430 PM UNTIL 1000
PM CDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 4 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 40 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 45 MILES SOUTHWEST OF HUTCHINSON KANSAS TO 45
MILES EAST OF CHANUTE KANSAS.
REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.
OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 273...WW 275...WW 276...WW
277...WW 278...
DISCUSSION...RAPID SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT EXPECTED ALONG
DRY LINE SCENTRAL KS WHERE EXTREME INSTABILITY AVAILABLE. 50 KT OF
DEEP LAYER SHEAR WILL SUPPORT TORNADIC SUPERCELLS AND VERY LARGE
HAIL.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 4 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 600.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.
...HALES
381,0982 381,0944 370,0944 370,0982SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 24, 9:30 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Allen, Anderson, Atchison, Bourbon, Brown, Chase and 27 more | 2 hr |
| May 24, 12:37 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Anderson, Atchison, Brown, Chase, Clay, Cloud and 26 more | 83 min |
| May 24, 1:10 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Anderson, Atchison, Brown, Chase, Clay, Cloud and 27 more | 9 hr |
| May 24, 3:28 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Anderson, Atchison, Brown, Chase, Clay, Cloud and 28 more | 92 min |
| May 24, 3:57 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Butler, Cowley, Greenwood, Sedgwick, Sumner | 93 min |
| May 24, 5:26 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Atchison, Brown, Doniphan, Marshall, Nemaha, Republic and 1 more | 94 min |
| May 24, 5:40 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Allen, Bourbon, Butler, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Cowley and 9 more | 95 min |
| May 24, 6:57 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Anderson, Atchison, Brown, Chase, Clay, Cloud and 31 more | 48 min |
Nearby
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.