Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Watches in 2015

Tornado Watch 230

May 27, 2015Kit Carson County, Yuma County, Colorado; 27 counties in Kansas; Dundy County, Hitchcock County, Nebraska

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 27, 2015, 1:26 PM MDT for Kit Carson County, Yuma County, Colorado; 27 counties in Kansas; Dundy County, Hitchcock County, Nebraska. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 27, 2015, 1:26 PM MDT (19:26 UTC)
Expired
May 27, 2015, 8:34 PM MDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 31 counties

Kit Carson County, CO, Yuma County, CO, Cheyenne County, KS, Clark County, KS, Finney County, KS, Ford County, KS, Gove County, KS, Grant County, KS, Gray County, KS, Greeley County, KS, Hamilton County, KS, Haskell County, KS, Hodgeman County, KS, Kearny County, KS, Lane County, KS, Logan County, KS, Meade County, KS, Morton County, KS, Ness County, KS, Rawlins County, KS, Scott County, KS, Seward County, KS, Sheridan County, KS, Sherman County, KS, Stanton County, KS, Stevens County, KS, Thomas County, KS, Wallace County, KS, Wichita County, KS, Dundy County, NE, Hitchcock County, NE

The radar

The Goodland radar (KGLD), 49 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:27 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
50%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
10%
Ten or more severe hail reports
60%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
40%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
80%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 27, 1:30 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCLane45 min
May 27, 1:41 PM MDTTornado Warning Tornado observedGLDYuma34 min
May 27, 1:42 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFinney, Scott48 min
May 27, 1:50 PM MDTTornado WarningGLDLogan, Thomas25 min
May 27, 1:54 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDGove, Logan, Wichita66 min
May 27, 2:03 PM MDTTornado WarningGLDLogan27 min
May 27, 2:09 PM MDTTornado WarningDDCLane36 min
May 27, 2:12 PM MDTTornado WarningGLDYuma33 min
May 27, 2:12 PM MDTTornado Warning Tornado observedGLDLogan, Thomas31 min
May 27, 2:16 PM MDTTornado WarningGLDLogan29 min
May 27, 2:18 PM MDTTornado WarningGLDLogan, Wichita27 min
May 27, 2:20 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCMeade25 min
May 27, 2:25 PM MDTTornado Warning Tornado observedGLDGove, Logan23 min
May 27, 2:33 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningDDCFinney, Lane, Scott6 hr
May 27, 2:35 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDDecatur, Gove, Graham, Logan, Rawlins, Sheridan and 1 more55 min
May 27, 2:41 PM MDTTornado WarningGLDYuma34 min
May 27, 2:41 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCLane49 min
May 27, 2:41 PM MDTTornado Warning Tornado observedGLDGove, Logan34 min
May 27, 2:52 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningGLDLogan, Thomas3 hr
May 27, 2:55 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDLogan, Sherman, Thomas65 min
May 27, 2:58 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDGove, Logan, Wichita62 min
May 27, 3:03 PM MDTTornado WarningDDCLane27 min
May 27, 3:08 PM MDTTornado Warning Tornado observedGLDGove, Logan37 min
May 27, 3:12 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCMeade48 min
May 27, 3:18 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDYuma42 min
May 27, 3:21 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCLane, Scott28 min
May 27, 3:27 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDLogan, Thomas63 min
May 27, 3:28 PM MDTTornado WarningDDCLane, Scott11 min
May 27, 3:31 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCLane, Ness44 min
May 27, 3:34 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCHaskell56 min
May 27, 3:43 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDDundy, Hitchcock62 min
May 27, 3:46 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDHitchcock59 min
May 27, 3:48 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFinney, Lane42 min
May 27, 3:52 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCClark, Meade42 min
May 27, 4:15 PM MDTTornado WarningDDCHaskell30 min
May 27, 4:16 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDDundy29 min
May 27, 4:23 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFinney, Hodgeman, Lane, Ness52 min
May 27, 4:26 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCClark, Meade49 min
May 27, 4:32 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningGLDGove3 hr
May 27, 4:35 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningGLDCheyenne, Rawlins6 hr
May 27, 4:40 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCHaskell50 min
May 27, 4:43 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDDundy, Hitchcock62 min
May 27, 4:46 PM MDTTornado WarningDDCHaskell15 min
May 27, 4:52 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDDundy25 min
May 27, 4:56 PM MDTTornado Warning Tornado observedDDCFinney, Hodgeman34 min
May 27, 4:58 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDRawlins40 min
May 27, 5:06 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFinney, Lane, Scott54 min
May 27, 5:07 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDLogan, Wichita23 min
May 27, 5:10 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCClark, Meade33 min
May 27, 5:11 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCMorton, Stanton14 min
May 27, 5:13 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDWichita32 min
May 27, 5:17 PM MDTTornado WarningGLDWichita28 min
May 27, 5:23 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningGLDDundy, Hitchcock5 hr
May 27, 5:25 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCGray, Haskell, Meade53 min
May 27, 5:27 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCScott48 min
May 27, 5:28 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDLogan, Wichita46 min
May 27, 5:31 PM MDTTornado WarningDDCFinney, Hodgeman29 min
May 27, 5:38 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFinney, Lane52 min
May 27, 5:44 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDCheyenne27 min
May 27, 5:46 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningDDCClark, Meade3 hr
May 27, 5:46 PM MDTTornado WarningDDCHaskell13 min
May 27, 5:47 PM MDTTornado WarningDDCFinney, Gray28 min
May 27, 5:48 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningGLDLogan4 hr
May 27, 5:49 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCGrant, Haskell30 min
May 27, 5:50 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDDundy40 min
May 27, 5:52 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningGLDLogan, Wichita3 hr
May 27, 5:58 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningDDCHaskell3 hr
May 27, 5:58 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDCheyenne, Rawlins29 min
May 27, 6:01 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCHodgeman44 min
May 27, 6:18 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFinney, Gray, Hodgeman57 min
May 27, 6:25 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFinney, Gray50 min
May 27, 6:30 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGLDDundy45 min
May 27, 6:51 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFinney, Ford, Gray, Hodgeman54 min
May 27, 7:06 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningDDCFinney, Hodgeman, Lane, Ness6 hr
May 27, 7:18 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCGray, Meade27 min
May 27, 7:38 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFord, Gray17 min
May 27, 8:16 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFord, Hodgeman44 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 (KDEN), launched 12:00Z, 7.4 hours before the alert went out and 181 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 2015-05-27Temperature 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 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 2015-05-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -6 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1785 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
28 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.

297 
WWUS20 KWNS 271923
SEL0  
SPC WW 271923
COZ000-KSZ000-NEZ000-280300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 230
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
225 PM CDT WED MAY 27 2015

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 
  NORTHEAST COLORADO
  WESTERN KANSAS
  FAR SOUTHWEST NEBRASKA

* EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 225 PM
  UNTIL 1000 PM CDT.

* PRIMARY THREATS INCLUDE...
  A FEW TORNADOES POSSIBLE
  SCATTERED LARGE HAIL LIKELY WITH ISOLATED VERY LARGE HAIL EVENTS
    TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER POSSIBLE
  ISOLATED DAMAGING WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH POSSIBLE

SUMMARY...SUPERCELLS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE WATCH AREA
THIS AFTERNOON INTO EVENING WITH A RISK FOR LARGE HAIL AND A FEW
TORNADOES.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS APPROXIMATELY ALONG AND 60 STATUTE
MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 60 MILES NORTH OF GOODLAND
KANSAS TO 20 MILES EAST OF LIBERAL KANSAS.  FOR A COMPLETE
DEPICTION OF THE WATCH SEE THE ASSOCIATED WATCH OUTLINE UPDATE
(WOUS64 KWNS WOU0).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

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 227...WW 228...WW 229...

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 27020.


...MEAD

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 27, 12:55 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCKit Carson, Phillips, Sedgwick, Yuma95 min
May 27, 5:16 PM MDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCYuma119 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Kansas, 2015Tornado Watches in Colorado, 2015Tornado Watches in Nebraska, 2015Every tornado watch in 2015

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.