Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Watches in 2021
Tornado Watch 209
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 26, 2021, 3:11 PM CDT for 8 counties in Kansas. It was in force for 8 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 26, 2021, 3:11 PM CDT (20:11 UTC)
- Expired
- May 26, 2021, 10:47 PM CDT
- In force
- 8 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
- Largest hail expected
- 3 in
- Strongest gust expected
- 60 kt
Counties Barton County, KS, Ellsworth County, KS, Lincoln County, KS, McPherson County, KS, Reno County, KS, Rice County, KS, Russell County, KS, Saline County, KS
The radar
The Wichita radar (KICT), 118 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:13 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
- 60%
- One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
- 60%
- Ten or more severe wind reports
- 60%
- One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
- 10%
- Ten or more severe hail reports
- 95%
- One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
- 80%
- Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
- 95%
Warnings issued inside it
24 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 26, 3:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Russell | 43 min |
| May 26, 3:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Russell | 36 min |
| May 26, 3:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Barton, Ellsworth, Russell | 41 min |
| May 26, 3:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Barton, Russell | 63 min |
| May 26, 4:11 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Barton, Russell | 49 min |
| May 26, 4:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Ellsworth | 32 min |
| May 26, 4:44 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Barton, Ellsworth, Russell | 46 min |
| May 26, 4:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Ellsworth, Lincoln, Russell | 47 min |
| May 26, 5:16 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Ellsworth | 44 min |
| May 26, 5:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Barton, Russell | 29 min |
| May 26, 5:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Ellsworth, Lincoln | 46 min |
| May 26, 6:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Barton, Ellsworth | 28 min |
| May 26, 6:06 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Saline | 54 min |
| May 26, 6:19 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Ellsworth, Rice | 26 min |
| May 26, 6:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Ellsworth | 32 min |
| May 26, 6:41 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Ellsworth, Rice | 35 min |
| May 26, 6:59 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Saline | 46 min |
| May 26, 7:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Ellsworth, McPherson, Rice | 45 min |
| May 26, 7:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | McPherson, Rice | 47 min |
| May 26, 8:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | McPherson | 47 min |
| May 26, 8:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | McPherson | 33 min |
| May 26, 9:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Harvey, McPherson, Marion, Reno | 45 min |
| May 26, 10:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Harvey, McPherson, Marion | 30 min |
| May 26, 10:31 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | ICT | McPherson | 5 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 12:00Z, 8.2 hours before the alert went out and 177 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
- 2211 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -62 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 911 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 30 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 90 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 73 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.4
The text
As transmitted.
661
WWUS20 KWNS 262006
SEL9
SPC WW 262006
KSZ000-270200-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Tornado Watch Number 209
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
310 PM CDT Wed May 26 2021
The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a
* Tornado Watch for portions of
Central Kansas
* Effective this Wednesday afternoon and evening from 310 PM
until 900 PM CDT.
* Primary threats include...
A few tornadoes and a couple intense tornadoes likely
Widespread large hail expected with scattered very large hail
events to 3 inches in diameter likely
Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph likely
SUMMARY...A small and slow-moving cluster of supercell thunderstorms
will likely persist for several more hours, posing a risk of very
large hail, damaging winds, and isolated tornadoes.
The tornado watch area is approximately along and 40 statute miles
east and west of a line from 30 miles northeast of Russell KS to 30
miles south southwest of Hutchinson KS. For a complete depiction of
the watch see the associated watch outline update (WOUS64 KWNS
WOU9).
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 205...WW 206...WW
207...WW 208...
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 600. Mean
storm motion vector 29020.
...HartSPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 26, 10:14 AM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cheyenne, Decatur, Rawlins, Sherman, Thomas | 61 min |
| May 26, 1:47 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barton, Cheyenne, Edwards, Ellis, Ellsworth, Finney and 31 more | 88 min |
| May 26, 4:42 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Barber, Cheyenne, Clark, Comanche, Decatur, Edwards and 29 more | 8 hr |
| May 26, 5:44 PM CDT | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Barton, Cloud, Decatur, Ellis, Ellsworth, Graham and 13 more | 2 hr |
| May 26, 6:07 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Clay, Cloud, Dickinson, Geary, Jewell, Marshall and 10 more | 8 hr |
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.