Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2021

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 171

May 14, 202122 counties in Kansas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at May 14, 2021, 7:27 PM CDT for 22 counties in Kansas. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 14, 2021, 7:27 PM CDT (00:27 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 2021, 12:55 AM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
65 kt
All 22 counties

Barber County, KS, Barton County, KS, Comanche County, KS, Edwards County, KS, Ellis County, KS, Ellsworth County, KS, Ford County, KS, Hodgeman County, KS, Kingman County, KS, Kiowa County, KS, Lincoln County, KS, Mitchell County, KS, Ness County, KS, Osborne County, KS, Pawnee County, KS, Pratt County, KS, Reno County, KS, Rice County, KS, Rooks County, KS, Rush County, KS, Russell County, KS, Stafford County, KS

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 141 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:30 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
5%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
30%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
60%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 14, 8:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCEllis, Rush54 min
May 14, 8:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTRussell28 min
May 14, 8:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCPawnee, Rush57 min
May 14, 8:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCEllis, Trego54 min
May 14, 9:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCEllis, Ness, Pawnee, Rush, Trego57 min
May 14, 9:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCPawnee, Rush49 min
May 14, 9:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFinney, Hodgeman, Lane, Ness, Scott47 min
May 14, 10:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFinney, Gray, Hodgeman, Lane, Ness51 min
May 14, 10:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCEdwards, Pawnee, Rush40 min
May 14, 11:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCEdwards, Ford, Hodgeman, Ness, Pawnee, Rush33 min
May 14, 11:07 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDDCNess, Rush3 hr

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 00:00Z, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 136 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 00:00Z on 2021-05-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1153 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 00:00Z on 2021-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 81 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
1153 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-46 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1827 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
81 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
163 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
5.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

733 
WWUS20 KWNS 150024
SEL1  
SPC WW 150024
KSZ000-150600-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 171
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
730 PM CDT Fri May 14 2021

The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Watch for portions of 
  Central Kansas

* Effective this Friday night and Saturday morning from 730 PM
  until 100 AM CDT.

* Primary threats include...
  Isolated significant damaging wind gusts to 75 mph possible
  Isolated very large hail events to 2 inches in diameter possible
  A tornado or two possible

SUMMARY...A couple supercells may evolve southeast across
north-central Kansas through late evening. Otherwise, a cluster may
develop across western Kansas and spread east into central Kansas
towards midnight.

The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 35
statute miles east and west of a line from 45 miles north of Russell
KS to 20 miles west southwest of Medicine Lodge KS. For a complete
depiction of the watch see the associated watch outline update
(WOUS64 KWNS WOU1).

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

REMEMBER...A Severe Thunderstorm Watch means conditions are
favorable for 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. Severe thunderstorms can and occasionally do produce
tornadoes.

&&

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...CONTINUE...WW 169...WW 170...

AVIATION...A few severe thunderstorms with hail surface and aloft to
2 inches. Extreme turbulence and surface wind gusts to 65 knots. A
few cumulonimbi with maximum tops to 500. Mean storm motion vector
30025.

...Grams

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 14, 7:10 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCEllis, Gove, Graham, Lane, Logan, Ness and 5 more2 hr
May 14, 9:42 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCEdwards, Hodgeman, Ness, Pawnee63 min
May 15, 6:07 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCGrant, Hamilton, Kearny, Morton, Stanton, Stevens5 hr
May 15, 6:17 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCGrant, Hamilton, Stanton58 min
May 15, 6:44 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChautauqua, Cowley, Edwards, Ford, Hodgeman, Kingman and 7 more61 min
May 15, 6:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBarber, Barton, Clark, Comanche, Edwards, Ellis and 37 more6 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Kansas, 2021Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2021

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.