Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Watches in 2012

Tornado Watch 298

May 25, 201212 counties in Kansas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 25, 2012, 6:48 PM CDT for 12 counties in Kansas. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 25, 2012, 6:48 PM CDT (23:48 UTC)
Expired
May 26, 2012, 12:01 AM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
3 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt

Counties Barton County, KS, Ellis County, KS, Ellsworth County, KS, Lincoln County, KS, Mitchell County, KS, Ness County, KS, Osborne County, KS, Rice County, KS, Rooks County, KS, Rush County, KS, Russell County, KS, Trego County, KS

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 121 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:48 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
80%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
95%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 25, 6:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCEllis, Ness, Rush, Trego46 min
May 25, 7:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCEllis, Rush50 min
May 25, 7:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTRussell46 min
May 25, 7:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCEllis, Ness, Rush51 min
May 25, 7:52 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCNess, Rush23 min
May 25, 8:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTRussell62 min
May 25, 8:14 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCEllis, Ness, Rush31 min
May 25, 8:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCEllis, Ness, Rush49 min
May 25, 8:31 PM CDTTornado Warning Tornado observedICTRussell44 min
May 25, 8:41 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCEllis, Rush34 min
May 25, 9:12 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCEllis, Rush33 min
May 25, 9:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCEllis, Rush47 min
May 25, 9:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTRussell47 min
May 25, 9:29 PM CDTTornado WarningICTRussell46 min
May 25, 9:34 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCEllis, Rush26 min
May 25, 9:57 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCEllis, Rush33 min
May 25, 9:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCEllis, Rush46 min
May 25, 10:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTRussell31 min
May 25, 10:23 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCEllis, Rush37 min
May 25, 10:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCEllis, Rush50 min
May 25, 10:49 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCEllis, Rush26 min
May 25, 11:00 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCEllis, Rush14 min
May 25, 11:08 PM CDTTornado WarningICTRussell52 min
May 25, 11:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCEllis28 min
May 25, 11:13 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCEllis17 min
May 25, 11:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTRussell8 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, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 117 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 2012-05-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 2012-05-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 568 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1201 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
59 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
568 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
982 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
6.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

782 
WWUS20 KWNS 252347
SEL8
SPC WW 252347
KSZ000-260500-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 298
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
650 PM CDT FRI MAY 25 2012

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

       NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY NIGHT FROM 650 PM UNTIL MIDNIGHT 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 45 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 55 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF
RUSSELL KANSAS TO 45 MILES NORTH OF RUSSELL KANSAS.  FOR A
COMPLETE DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE
UPDATE (WOUS64 KWNS WOU8).

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.

DISCUSSION...ISOLATED SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS ARE FORMING TO THE
NORTHEAST OF A SURFACE LOW OVER SOUTHWEST KS.  ENHANCED LOW LEVEL
VERTICAL SHEAR TO THE NORTH OF THE WARM FRONT...COUPLED WITH HIGH
CAPE VALUES WILL PROMOTE THE RISK OF INTENSE SUPERCELLS CAPABLE OF
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.  ISOLATED TORNADOES ARE ALSO
POSSIBLE...ALTHOUGH A MITIGATING FACTOR IS THE WARM TEMPERATURES IN
THE EML AND RATHER WEAK LOW LEVEL CAPE VALUES.

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
500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 26025.


...HART

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 25, 3:57 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarber, Barton, Clark, Comanche, Edwards, Ellsworth and 19 more2 hr
May 25, 6:34 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClark, Comanche, Seward56 min
May 25, 6:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBarber, Clark, Comanche, Edwards, Ford, Gray and 6 more5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Kansas, 2012Every tornado watch in 2012

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.