Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2023

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 521

July 19, 202327 counties in Kansas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Jul 19, 2023, 9:00 PM CDT for 27 counties in Kansas. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Jul 19, 2023, 9:00 PM CDT (02:00 UTC)
Expired
Jul 20, 2023, 3:00 AM CDT
In force
6 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 27 counties

Barton County, KS, Edwards County, KS, Ellis County, KS, Ellsworth County, KS, Finney County, KS, Ford County, KS, Grant County, KS, Gray County, KS, Harvey County, KS, Haskell County, KS, Hodgeman County, KS, Kingman County, KS, Kiowa County, KS, Lincoln County, KS, McPherson County, KS, Ness County, KS, Pawnee County, KS, Pratt County, KS, Reno County, KS, Rice County, KS, Rooks County, KS, Rush County, KS, Russell County, KS, Saline County, KS, Sedgwick County, KS, Stafford County, KS, Trego County, KS

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 73 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:04 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
5%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
2%
Ten or more severe wind reports
50%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
20%
Ten or more severe hail reports
40%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
70%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 19, 9:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm Warning Considerable damage threatDDCEllis, Trego43 min
Jul 19, 9:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCLane, Ness, Scott44 min
Jul 20, 12:12 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFord, Gray37 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 00:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 70 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 2023-07-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1626 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 2023-07-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -46 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1626 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-215 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1616 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-46 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
169 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-3.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

757 
WWUS20 KWNS 200159
SEL1  
SPC WW 200159
KSZ000-200800-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 521
NWS Storm Prediction Center Norman OK
900 PM CDT Wed Jul 19 2023

The NWS Storm Prediction Center has issued a

* Severe Thunderstorm Watch for portions of 
  Western and central Kansas

* Effective this Wednesday night and Thursday morning from 900 PM
  until 300 AM CDT.

* Primary threats include...
  Scattered large hail and isolated very large hail events to 2
    inches in diameter possible
  Scattered damaging wind gusts to 70 mph possible

SUMMARY...One or more thunderstorm clusters should move into the
watch from western KS, and perhaps develop within it, over the next
several hours, offering occasional severe gusts and hail.  See SPC
mesoscale discussion 1637 for initial meteorological reasoning.

The severe thunderstorm watch area is approximately along and 75
statute miles either side of a line from 30 miles southeast of Dodge
City KS to 40 miles north of Russell 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 518...WW 519...WW 520...

AVIATION...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 550. Mean storm motion vector
29030.

...Edwards

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 19, 7:42 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarber, Barton, Clark, Comanche, Decatur, Edwards and 44 more4 hr
Jul 20, 9:25 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCheyenne, Rawlins95 min
Jul 20, 2:35 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCEdwards, Finney, Ford, Gove, Gray, Greeley and 9 more55 min
Jul 20, 4:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCBarber, Cheyenne, Clark, Comanche, Edwards, Ellis and 29 more7 hr
Jul 20, 4:49 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarber, Clark, Comanche, Edwards, Finney, Ford and 16 more116 min
Jul 20, 6:49 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCGrant, Hamilton, Haskell, Meade, Morton, Seward and 2 more116 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Kansas, 2023Every severe thunderstorm watch in 2023

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.