Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 17, NWS Topeka, KS

April 7, 1986Douglas County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 7, 1986, 6:11 PM CST for Douglas County, Kansas. It was in force for 49 min. 2 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
Apr 7, 1986, 6:11 PM CST (00:11 UTC)
Expired
Apr 7, 1986, 7:00 PM CST
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Douglas 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
Apr 7, 6:21 PM CSTHail 0.75Douglas, KS
Apr 7, 7:00 PM CSTHail 1.5Douglas, 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, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 33 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 1986-04-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1567 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 1986-04-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -57 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
1567 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-13 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1107 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
69 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-57 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
152 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
2.2

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, Apr 7, 3:36 PM CST, 2 hours 35 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
332 PM CST MON APR 7 1986

AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY WINDS
DEVELOPED RAPIDLY 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF MINNEAPOLIS NEAR DELPHOS
IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS.  THE THUNDERSTORM SHOULD MOVE EAST
ABOUT 25 MPH.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP DURING THE EVENING
HOURS OVER NORTH CENTRAL AND CENTRAL KANSAS.

PHILLIPS 2135
Special weather statement, Apr 7, 3:51 PM CST, 2 hours 20 minutes before
KANSAS SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1542 PM CST MON APR 7 1986

THERE IS A RISK SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOS FROM LATE THIS
AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF OF KANSAS.

VERY POTENT SEVER WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE PRESENT ACROSS KANSAS LATE
THIS AFTERNOON. THESE CONDITIONS SHOULD EXTEND INTO THE NIGHT TIME
HOURS. THIS AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS BEGAN FIRING ALONG A SALINA TO
EMPORIA TO CHANUTE LINE. THE LINE IS A BOUNDRY LEFTOVER FROM THE
THUNDERSTORMS THAT  MOVED ACROSS THE EASTERN PART OF KANSAS EARLY THIS
MORNING.

VEY UNSTABLE CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE INTO THE EVENING HOURS
AS COOLER AIR IN THE UPPER LEVELS MOVES OVER THE KANSAS REGION.

HEATHFIELD
Special weather statement, Apr 7, 4:01 PM CST, 2 hours 10 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
355 PM CST MON APR 7 1986

AT 355 PM CST STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN A 10 TO 15 MILE WIDE AREA
FROM BELOIT TO 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CLAY CENTER IN NORTH CENTRAL
KANSAS.  THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE 8 MILES NORTHWEST AND 7 MILES NORTH
OF MINNEAPOLIS IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS.

THESE STORMS WILL PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAIN GUSTY WINDS AND SOME HAIL
AS THEY MOVE EAST AT 20 MPH.

PHILLIPS 2200
Special weather statement, Apr 7, 4:38 PM CST, 1 hour 33 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
435 PM CST MON APR 7 1986

...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 74 IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM CST FOR CENTRAL AND
NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS...

AT 430 PM CST...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINS..GUSTY WINDS AND
POSSIBLY HAIL WERE IN OTTAWA COUNTY OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS ABOUT 10
MILES NORTHEAST AND 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF MINNEAPOLIS.

THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR AND SHOULD'
ENTER NORTHERN DICKINSON COUNTY BY 445 PM.
ES
Special weather statement, Apr 7, 5:43 PM CST, 28 minutes before
KANSAS SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1542 PM CST MON APR 7 1986

INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED OVER EASTERN KANSAS IN TOPEKA NUMEROUS
REPORTS OF PEA TO MARBLE SIZE HAIL HAVE BEEN REPORTED FROM THE SHERIFFS
OFFICE AND THE PUBLIC. STRONG WIND WAS ALSO REPORTED AS THESE INTENSE
THUNDERSTORMS MOVED THROUGH THE TOPEKA METROPOLOTIN AREA.

EARLIER THIS EVENING SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS MOVED ACROSS SOUTHERN LYON
COUNTY AND IS NOW MOVING THRU GREENWOOD AND WOODSON COUNTIES. THE SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR LYON COUNTY IS CANCELLED.

THE INTENSE AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALL MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT
25 MILES AN HOUR.

HEATHFIELD

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 7, 6:21 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMorris39 min
Apr 7, 6:49 PM CSTTornado WarningTOPLyon41 min
Apr 7, 7:31 PM CSTTornado WarningTOPLyon29 min

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.