Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Watches in 2005

Tornado Watch 489

June 16, 2005Cheyenne County, Kit Carson County, Yuma County, Colorado; 21 counties in Kansas; Dundy County, Hitchcock County, Nebraska

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jun 16, 2005, 4:15 PM MDT for Cheyenne County, Kit Carson County, Yuma County, Colorado; 21 counties in Kansas; Dundy County, Hitchcock County, Nebraska. It was in force for 8 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jun 16, 2005, 4:15 PM MDT (22:15 UTC)
Expired
Jun 17, 2005, 12:00 AM MDT
In force
8 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
All 26 counties

Cheyenne County, CO, Kit Carson County, CO, Yuma County, CO, Cheyenne County, KS, Decatur County, KS, Ellis County, KS, Gove County, KS, Graham County, KS, Lane County, KS, Logan County, KS, Ness County, KS, Norton County, KS, Pawnee County, KS, Phillips County, KS, Rawlins County, KS, Rooks County, KS, Rush County, KS, Scott County, KS, Sheridan County, KS, Sherman County, KS, Thomas County, KS, Trego County, KS, Wallace County, KS, Wichita County, KS, Dundy County, NE, Hitchcock County, NE

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 36 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:16 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

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 16, 6:12 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDKit Carson19 min
Jun 16, 9:05 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFinney, Kearny, Scott47 min
Jun 16, 10:54 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDPhillips66 min
Jun 16, 10:54 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDPhillips54 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

Denver, CO (KDNR), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 156 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, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 2005-06-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 82 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Denver, CO at 12:00Z on 2005-06-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 24 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
82 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-383 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2252 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
41 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 
WWUS20 KWNS 162211
SEL9  
SPC WW 162211
COZ000-KSZ000-NEZ000-170600-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 489
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
515 PM CDT THU JUN 16 2005

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 

       EASTERN COLORADO
       NORTHWEST KANSAS
       SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND FRIDAY MORNING FROM 515 PM
UNTIL 100 AM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 65 STATUTE MILES
NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 70 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF GOODLAND
KANSAS TO 45 MILES SOUTHEAST OF HILL CITY KANSAS.  FOR A COMPLETE
DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE
(WOUS64 KWNS WOU9).

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 487...WW 488...

DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO SPREAD EASTWARD OUT OF
COLORADO...AND DEVELOP ALONG BOUNDARY ACROSS WESTERN KS DURING THE
NEXT SEVERAL HOURS.  STRONG INSTABILITY AND FAVORABLE SHEAR
PARAMETERS WILL PROMOTE A RISK OF SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF
DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL.  DESPITE HIGH LCL HEIGHTS...PRESENCE OF
MULTIPLE BOUNDARIES...HIGH INSTABILITY...AND BACKED LOW LEVEL WINDS
MAY POSE A RISK OF A FEW TORNADOES.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 29030.


...HART

404,1025 395,0991 375,0991 384,1025

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 16, 1:54 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBaca, Prowers3 hr
Jun 15, 6:01 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarber, Barton, Clark, Comanche, Edwards, Ellis and 41 more89 min
Jun 15, 6:25 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBarber, Barton, Cloud, Comanche, Edwards, Ellis and 21 more8 hr
Jun 15, 9:14 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarber, Harper, Kingman, Pratt, Sumner91 min
Jun 15, 9:45 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCButler, Chautauqua, Cowley, Elk, Greenwood, Harper and 1 more6 hr
Jun 16, 12:01 AM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChautauqua, Cherokee, Elk, Labette, Montgomery, Neosho and 2 more89 min
Jun 16, 2:08 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCJewell, Phillips, Republic, Smith, Washington2 hr
Jun 16, 2:50 PM MDTTornado WatchSPCBarber, Clark, Comanche, Edwards, Finney, Ford and 18 more6 hr
Jun 16, 5:21 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtchison, Brown, Clay, Cloud, Dickinson, Geary and 16 more114 min
Jun 16, 5:33 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarber, Clark, Comanche, Edwards, Finney, Ford and 18 more87 min
Jun 15, 6:15 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBanner, Box Butte, Cheyenne, Dawes, Garden, Kimball and 4 more2 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Kansas, 2005Tornado Watches in Colorado, 2005Tornado Watches in Nebraska, 2005Every tornado watch in 2005

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.