Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Watches in 2008
Tornado Watch 281
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 8, 2008, 6:01 PM CDT for 25 counties in Kansas. It was in force for 2 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 8, 2008, 6:01 PM CDT (23:01 UTC)
- Expired
- May 8, 2008, 8:10 PM CDT
- In force
- 2 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 3 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
All 25 counties
Barber County, KS, Clark County, KS, Comanche County, KS, Edwards County, KS, Ellis County, KS, Finney County, KS, Ford County, KS, Grant County, KS, Gray County, KS, Hamilton County, KS, Haskell County, KS, Hodgeman County, KS, Kearny County, KS, Kiowa County, KS, Lane County, KS, Meade County, KS, Ness County, KS, Pawnee County, KS, Pratt County, KS, Rush County, KS, Scott County, KS, Seward County, KS, Stafford County, KS, Stevens County, KS, Trego County, KS
The radar
The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 41 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:04 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 SPC expected
The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.
- Two or more tornadoes
- 40%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 20%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 30%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 30%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 40%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 50%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 95%
Warnings issued inside it
7 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 6:11 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DDC | Finney, Hodgeman, Lane, Ness | 49 min |
| May 8, 6:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Lane | 45 min |
| May 8, 6:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Finney, Lane | 32 min |
| May 8, 6:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Edwards, Ford, Hodgeman, Pawnee | 50 min |
| May 8, 7:06 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Hodgeman | 28 min |
| May 8, 7:41 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Edwards, Ford, Hodgeman, Pawnee, Pratt, Stafford | 64 min |
| May 8, 8:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Edwards, Ford, Kiowa, Pratt | 45 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
Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 45 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1243 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 27 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 33 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 100 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 082256
SEL1
SPC WW 082256
KSZ000-090200-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 281
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
600 PM CDT THU MAY 8 2008
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
SOUTHWESTERN KANSAS
EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY EVENING FROM 600 PM UNTIL 900 PM CDT.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 3 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 60 STATUTE
MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES WEST OF GARDEN CITY
KANSAS TO 30 MILES NORTH OF MEDICINE LODGE KANSAS. FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU1).
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 278...WW 279...WW 280...
DISCUSSION...WELL DEFINED SUPERCELLS CONTINUE ACROSS PARTS OF WRN KS
EARLY THIS EVENING. VERY LARGE HAIL AND ISOLATED TORNADOES WILL
REMAIN POSSIBLE WITH THIS ACTIVITY...PRIMARY TO EVOLUTION INTO
LARGER MCS LATER THIS EVENING WHEN DAMAGING WIND POTENTIAL WILL ALSO
INCREASE.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 29025.
...EVANSSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 8, 1:27 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clark, Finney, Ford, Gove, Grant, Gray and 16 more | 63 min |
| May 8, 2:12 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Barber, Clark, Comanche, Edwards, Ellis, Finney and 28 more | 6 hr |
| May 8, 5:51 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barber, Barton, Clark, Comanche, Edwards, Ellis and 30 more | 24 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.