Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 110, NWS Topeka, KS

May 16, 1986Shawnee County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 16, 1986, 8:25 PM CDT for Shawnee County, Kansas. It was in force for 50 min. 1 report 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, 8:25 PM CDT (01:25 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 1986, 9:15 PM CDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Shawnee 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 16, 8:40 PM CDTHail 1.75Shawnee, 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, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 11 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 1986-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2634 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, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 1986-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 100 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
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

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 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, 3:37 PM CDT, 4 hours 48 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 56 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, 1 hour 1 minute 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, 47 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
Special weather statement, May 16, 8:20 PM CDT, 5 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
815 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1986

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PART OF NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL
KANSAS UNTIL 200 AM...

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR EASTERN WABAUNSEE
COUNTY AND NORTHWEST SHAWNEE COUNTY UNTIL 830 PM...

AT 815 PM CDT THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING THROUGH WESTERN SHAWNEE COUNTY
PRODUCING PEA TO MARBLE SIZE HAIL..AND WINDS OF 40 TO 45 MILES AN HOUR.
THIS STORM WILL AFFECT THE CITY OF TOPEKA UNTIL ABOUT 930 PM. PEOPLE
IN TOPEKA AND SURROUNDING AREAS SHOULD CONTINUE TO BE ALERT AS THESE
THUNDERSTORMS PASS.

MCNULTY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 7:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPShawnee, Wabaunsee40 min
May 16, 9:13 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPAtchison, Brown, Jackson, Jefferson, Nemaha, Pottawatomie5 hr
May 16, 9:13 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPMarshall, Riley5 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.