Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 109, NWS Topeka, KS
NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 16, 1986, 7:50 PM CDT for Shawnee County, Wabaunsee County, Kansas. It was in force for 40 min. 4 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- May 16, 1986, 7:50 PM CDT (00:50 UTC)
- Expired
- May 16, 1986, 8:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 40 min
- Issued by
- NWS Topeka, KS
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Shawnee County, KS, Wabaunsee County, KS
The radar
The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 16, 8:00 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Wabaunsee, KS | |
| May 16, 8:00 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Shawnee, KS | |
| May 16, 8:15 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Shawnee, KS | |
| May 16, 8:40 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Shawnee, KS |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.
The nearest sounding before it
Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 29 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
- 2634 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -11 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 769 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 30 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 100 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 108 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.0
- Supercell composite
- 5.8
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 severe thunderstorm 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, May 16, 2:12 PM CDT, 5 hours 38 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS 211 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1986 AT 210 PM RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF DELPHOS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. BRIF BUT VERY HEAVY RAIN AND HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM AS IT MOVES TO NORTHERN CLAY COUNTY BY 3 PM CDT. AT 210PM MARBLE SIZE HAIL AND VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS REPORTED BY THE OTTAWA COUNTY SHERIFF OFFICE 15 MILES SOUTH OF COUNCORDIA. PETERSEN
Special weather statement, May 16, 3:37 PM CDT, 4 hours 13 minutes before
SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 330 KPM CDT FRI MAY 16 1986 ...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10PM THIS EVENING FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHCENTRAL AND NORTHEAST KANSAS... STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN NORTHCENTRAL KANSAS AT 330 PM LOCATED IN CLAY COUNTY WESTWARD INTO SOUTHERN CLOUD AND NORTHERN OTTAWA COUNTY ROUGHLY IN AN AREA BOUNDED BY CLAY CENTER TO CONCORDIA TO MINNEAPOLIS AND BACK TO CONCORDIA IS DRIFTING NORTHEASTWARD. THIS STORM WILL LIKELY CROSS NORTHERN RILEY INTO MARSHALL COUNTY BETWEEN 400 TO 430 PM. THESE STORMS SHOULD BE MONITORED CLOSELY AND MAY REQUIRE WARNINGS AS THEY MOVE INTO THE NORTHWEST EDGE OF NORTHEAST KANSAS. SHIDELER
Special weather statement, May 16, 5:29 PM CDT, 2 hours 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 528 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1986 ...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS... ...SEVE
Special weather statement, May 16, 7:24 PM CDT, 26 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 720 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1986 TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 179 VALID UNTIL 10 PM CDT FOR MUCH OF NORTHCENTAL AND NORTHEAST KANSAS HAS BEEN CANCELLED WEST% OF A LINE FROM SABETHA TO ABILENE TO HERINGTON. THIS WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT UNTIL 10PM TO THE EAST OF THIS LINE AND WEST OF A LINE FROM LYNDON TO LEAVENWORTH. TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 181 ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHCENTRAL KANSAS UNTIL 11PM
Special weather statement, May 16, 7:38 PM CDT, 12 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS 735 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1986 TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 179 HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS. AT 735 PM CDT A LINE OF INTENSE TO8 SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM 20 MILES NORTHEAST OF HIAWATHA IN EXTREME NORTHEAST KANSAS TO 30 MILES SOUTHWEST OF HUTCHINSON IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS. THE LINE WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH. PHILLIPS 0038
The office that day
Everything else NWS Topeka, KS issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 16, 8:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | Shawnee | 50 min |
| May 16, 9:13 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | TOP | Atchison, Brown, Jackson, Jefferson, Nemaha, Pottawatomie | 5 hr |
| May 16, 9:13 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | TOP | Marshall, Riley | 5 hr |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kansas, 1986Every severe thunderstorm 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.