Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2016

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 520

December 25, 201635 counties in Kansas; 5 counties in Nebraska

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Dec 25, 2016, 10:45 AM CST for 35 counties in Kansas; 5 counties in Nebraska. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Dec 25, 2016, 10:45 AM CST (16:45 UTC)
Expired
Dec 25, 2016, 3:31 PM CST
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 40 counties

Barber County, KS, Barton County, KS, Butler County, KS, Chase County, KS, Clay County, KS, Cloud County, KS, Cowley County, KS, Dickinson County, KS, Ellsworth County, KS, Geary County, KS, Harper County, KS, Harvey County, KS, Jewell County, KS, Kingman County, KS, Lincoln County, KS, Marion County, KS, McPherson County, KS, Mitchell County, KS, Morris County, KS, Osborne County, KS, Ottawa County, KS, Phillips County, KS, Pratt County, KS, Reno County, KS, Republic County, KS, Rice County, KS, Riley County, KS, Rooks County, KS, Russell County, KS, Saline County, KS, Sedgwick County, KS, Smith County, KS, Stafford County, KS, Sumner County, KS, Washington County, KS, Franklin County, NE, Harlan County, NE, Nuckolls County, NE, Thayer County, NE, Webster County, NE

The radar

The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 153 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:46 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
20%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
10%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
5%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
5%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
50%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 25, 11:43 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCPratt, Stafford18 min
Dec 25, 12:19 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDAdams, Franklin, Kearney, Webster41 min
Dec 25, 12:22 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTEllsworth, Lincoln, McPherson, Rice, Saline37 min
Dec 25, 12:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDAdams, Clay, Nuckolls, Webster43 min
Dec 25, 1:23 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPRepublic37 min
Dec 25, 1:53 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningGIDFillmore, Thayer26 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, 4.8 hours before the alert went out and 179 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 2016-12-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 152 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 2016-12-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 477 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
152 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-211 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
565 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
68 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
477 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
492 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 25, 7:16 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClark, Finney, Ford, Gove, Grant, Gray and 11 more89 min
Dec 25, 12:49 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCButler, Chase, Clay, Cloud, Cowley, Dickinson and 18 more116 min
Dec 25, 3:27 PM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Anderson, Atchison, Bourbon, Brown, Chautauqua and 25 more2 hr
Dec 25, 4:32 AM CSTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBanner, Kimball, Scotts Bluff, Sioux6 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Kansas, 2016Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Nebraska, 2016Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2016

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.