Alert archive / Kansas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1986

Flash Flood Warning 3, NWS Wichita, KS

October 2, 19864 counties in Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this flash flood warning at Oct 2, 1986, 11:30 PM CDT for 4 counties in Kansas. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 2, 1986, 11:30 PM CDT (04:30 UTC)
Expired
Oct 3, 1986, 6:00 AM CDT
In force
7 hr
Issued by
NWS Wichita, KS
Area
Whole counties

Counties Elk County, KS, Greenwood County, KS, Wilson County, KS, Woodson County, KS

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 4.5 hours before the alert went out and 148 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, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 1986-10-03Temperature 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 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 1986-10-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 86 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
590 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
86 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
285 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Oct 2, 5:38 PM CDT, 5 hours 52 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
535 PM CDT THU OCT 2 1986

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR MOST OF THE EAST HALF OF KANSAS THIS AFTER
NOON AND TONIGHT...

AT 530 PM...A VERY LARGE AREA OF RAIN AND IMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS
COVERED MOST OF KANSAS AND NORTHERN OKLAHOMA...SOUTH OF A LINE FROM
LAWRENCE TO CLAY CENTER TO RUSSELL TO NEAR ASHLAND.  VERY HEAVY RAINS
WERE MOSTLY ACROSS SOUTHEAST KANSAS AND NORTHERN OKLAHOMA.

THE AREA OF HEAVIEST RAINS WAS ABOUT 35 MILES WIDE EXTENDING FROM
NEAR BLUE MOUND TO JUST WEST OF COFFEYVILLE IN KANSAS CONTINUING INTO
OKLAHOMA TO ABOUT 30 MILES NORTH OF OKLAHOMA CITY. MOVEMENT WAS TO
THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

OCCASIONAL VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS OF RAINS CAN STILL BE EXPECTED TO THE
SOUTHEAST OF A BLUE MOUND TO COFFEYVILLE LINE AND SOME URBAN AND
LOWLAND FLOODING IS LIKELY WITH THE HEAVIER RAINFALLS.
Special weather statement, Oct 2, 6:41 PM CDT, 4 hours 49 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
640 PM CDT THU OCT 2 1986

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR MOST OF THE EAST HALF OF KANSAS THIS AFTER
NOON AND TONIGHT...

AT 630 PM...RAIN AND IMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS COVERED MOST OF KANSAS
AND NORTHERN OKLAHOMA...SOUTH AND EAST OF A LINE FROM NEAR PAOLA TO
TOPEKA TO CLAY CENTER THEN SOUTHWEST TO NEAR COLDWATER.  THE HEAVIEST
RAINS WERE IN SOUTHEAST PARTS MAINLY FROM FORT SCOTT TO JUST WEST OF
COFFEYVILLE.
MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT AROUND 40 MPH.

VERY HEAVY DOWNPOURS OF RAIN IS STILL LIKELY SOUTHEAST OF A LINE FROM
FORT SCOTT TO THE COFFEYVILLE AREA.  SOME URBAN AND LOWLAND FLOODING
...ESPECIALLY IN LOW LYING0 AREAS IS LIKELY WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE
HEAVIER STORMS.
Special weather statement, Oct 2, 7:46 PM CDT, 3 hours 44 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
740 PM CDT THU OCT 2 1986

...FLASH FLOOD WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR SOUTHEAST KANSAS
FROM GREENWOOD...ELK AND CHAUTAUQUA COUNTIES TO THE EAST BORDER...
...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR MOST OF THE EAST HALF OF KANSAS THIS AFTER
NOON AND TONIGHT...

AT 730 PM...RAIN AND IMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS COVERED MOST OF KANSAS
AND NORTHERN OKLAHOMA...SOUTH AND EAST OF A LINE FROM TOPEKA TO NEAR
MINNEAPOLIS TO GREAT BEND TO NEAR COLDWATER.  HEAVIEST RAINS WERE
GENERALLY SOUTHEAST FROM A FORT SCOTT TO JUST EAST OF COFFEYVILLE
LINE...BUT MORE WERE INCREASING IN SOUTHERN COWLEY SOUTH INTO OKLAHOMA.
MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT AROUND 40 MPH.

IN THE WARNING AREA ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINS LATE THIS AFTERNOON HAVE
CAUSED MANY ROADS TO BE CLOSED AND MOST RIVERS AND STREAMS ARE AT
BANKFULL OR FLOODING.  DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS ANY ROADWAYS THAT ARE
OVERRUN WITH HIGH WATERS THEY MAY BE DEEPER THAN THEY APPEAR.
Special weather statement, Oct 2, 8:39 PM CDT, 2 hours 51 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
840 PM CDT THU OCT 2 1986

...FLASH FLOOD WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR SOUTHEAST KANSAS
FROM GREENWOOD...ELK AND CHAUTAUQUA COUNTIES TO THE EAST BORDER...
...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR MOST OF THE EAST HALF OF KANSAS TONIGHT...

AT 830 PM...RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST
KANSAS HAS DIMINISHED SINCE 7 30 PM...BUT CONTINUED TO BLANKET MOST OF
THE SOUTH HALF OF THE STATE...WITH THE HEAVIEST RAINS IN SOUTHEAST
PARTS.
THE NORTH EDGE OF THE AREA WAS FROM NEAR PLEASANTON TO NEAR GREAT
BEND WITH THE HEAVIER RAINS SOUTH FROM NEAR TORONTO TO NEAR PITTSBURG.
MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.
IN THE WARNING AREA ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINS LATE THIS AFTERNOON HAVE
CAUSED MANY ROADS TO BE CLOSED AND MOST RIVERS AND STREAMS ARE AT
BANKFULL OR FLOODING.  DO NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS ANY ROADWAYS THAT ARE
OVERRUN WITH HIGH WATERS THEY MAY BE DEEPER THAN THEY APPEAR.
THUNDERSTORMS WERE INCREASING ACROSS NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA.
Special weather statement, Oct 2, 9:36 PM CDT, 1 hour 54 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
940 PM CDT THU OCT 2 1986

...FLASH FLOOD WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR SOUTHEAST KANSAS
FROM GREENWOOD...ELK AND CHAUTAUQUA COUNTIES TO THE EAST BORDER...
...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR MOST OF THE EAST HALF OF KANSAS TONIGHT...

AT 930 PM...RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS HAD WEAKENED ACROSS SOUTHEAST PARTS
OF KANSAS SINCE 8 30 PM...BUT MORE HEAVIER RAINS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST
ACROSS NORTHERN OKLAHOMA AND WILL LIKELY MOVE BACK ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL
AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS DURING THE REMAINDER OF THE NIGHT.

IT WAS MOSTLY LIGHT SHOWERS NORTH OF A LINE FROM NEAR YATES CENTER TO
CALDWELL TO AETNA...WITH MODERATE TO HEAVY RAINS STILL ACROSS THE
SOUTHEAST COUNTIES...AND HEAVIER THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN NORTH OKLAHOM
FROM SOUTHWEST OF BLACKWELL TO SOUTHWEST OF ENID AND IN THE AREA
NORTH AND WEST OF TULSA.  THESE STORMS WILL LIKELY MOVE BACK INTO
THE AREA FROM ARKANSAS CITY TO THE EAST BORDER BEFORE THE NIGHT IS
OVER.
Special weather statement, Oct 2, 10:39 PM CDT, 51 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
1040 PM CDT THU OCT 2 1986

...FLASH FLOOD WARNING IN EFFECT UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR SOUTHEAST KANSAS
FROM GREENWOOD...ELK AND CHAUTAUQUA COUNTIES TO THE EAST BORDER...
...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR MOST OF THE EAST HALF OF KANSAS TONIGHT...

AT 1030 PM...HEAVY RAINS HAVE AGAIN INVADED EXTREME SOUTH CENTRAL
KANSAS...FROM CALDWELL EAST TO NEAR CHAUTAUQUA.  THE NARROW BAND
ABOUT 25 MILES WIDE HAS MOVED OUT OF NORTH OKLAHOMA AND MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.  THESE HEAVIER THUNDERSTORMS WERE PART OF AN
OVERALL AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS THAT WAS SOUTH OF A LINE
FROM THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE NORTHEAST TO NEAR MC PHERSON TO RJUST
SOUTH OF TOPEKA THEN SOUTHEAST TO NEAR LA CYGNE.

THE HEAVIER RAINS WILL ONLY CAUSE MORE PROBLEMS FOR THE RAINSOAKED
AREA OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS WHERE MANY RIVERS AND
STREAMS ARE ALREADY BANKFULL OR OVERFLOWING.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Wichita, KS issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 2, 11:30 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningICTChautauqua, Montgomery7 hr
Oct 2, 11:30 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningICTAllen, Bourbon, Crawford, Neosho7 hr
Oct 2, 11:30 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningICTCherokee, Labette7 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Kansas, 1986Every flash flood warning in 1986

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.