Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 182, NWS Topeka, KS

September 10, 1986Clay County, Washington County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 10, 1986, 5:20 PM CDT for Clay County, Washington County, Kansas. It was in force for 60 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 10, 1986, 5:20 PM CDT (22:20 UTC)
Expired
Sep 10, 1986, 6:20 PM CDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

Counties Clay County, KS, Washington 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 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 143 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 12:00Z on 1986-09-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1188 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 12:00Z on 1986-09-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 270 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
1188 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-147 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
700 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
270 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
302 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
11.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KCNK 102223
SVRCNK
KSC201-027-143-102320-

BULLETIN IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
520 PM CDT WED SEP 10 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 620 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

NORTHCENTRAL KANSAS...WASHINGTON CLAY AND OTTAWA

AT 520 PM CDT RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM 10 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF WASHINGTON KANSAS SOUTHWEST THROUGH CLAY CENTER TO
MINNEAPOLIS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.
ONE INCH HAIL HAS BEEN REPORTED FROM THIS LINE.
<
PERSONS THREATENED BY THE STORM/S SHOULD GET TO A REINFORCED
SHELTER AND PREPARE FOR STRONG DAMAGING WIND..LARGE HAIL..
VERY HEAVY RAIN AND LIGHTNING.

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT.  THIS WARNING IS FOR THE DAMAGING
WINDS AND LARGE HAIL OF A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM.  TORNADOES REMAIN
POSSIBLE FROM THIS AND OTHER STORMS..SO BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO A
PLACE OF SAFETY IF SEVERE WEATHER THREATENS YOUR LOCATION.
SCHNEIDER

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, Sep 10, 11:29 AM CDT, 5 hours 51 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1130 AM CDT WED SEP 10 1986

...STRONG STORM SYSTEM TO BRING THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
   AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS TO EASTERN KANSAS...

THERE IS A RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS
FOR ROUGHLY THE EASTERN HALF OF KANSAS LATE THIS AFTERNON AND
TONIGHT.

AT MID DAY...A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WAS CENTERED OVER NORTHEAST
NEBRASKA WITH A COLDFRONT TRAILING SOUTHWEST TO NORTHWEST KANSAS AND
SOUTHWEST COLORADO. A STRONG UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM WAS
OVER THE SOUTHWESTERN STATES. STRONG AND GUSTY SOUTHERLY WINDS
OF 20 TO 30 MILES AN HOUR WERE ACROSS KANSAS...BRINGING VERY
MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR ACROSS ALL OF CENTRAL AND EASTERN KANSAS.

AS THE FRONT MOVES SOUTHEAST ACROSS KANSAS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...
THE UPPER LEVEL LOW OVER THE SOUTHWEST WILL MOVE NORTHEAST TOWARD THE
PLAINS. THIS WILL TRIGGER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...ESPECIALLY OVER
CENTRAL AND EASTERN KANSAS...BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO TONIGHT
WITH THE POTENTIAL FOR SOME SEVERE STORMS AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS.

BY THURSDAY MORNING...THE FRONT SHOULD BE OVER EASTERN KANSAS.
CONSEQUENTLY...THUNDERSHOWERS MAY LINGER INTO gTHURSDAY MORNING OVER
THE EAST BEFORE EXITING THE STATE BY NOON.

BILLS
Special weather statement, Sep 10, 5:11 PM CDT, 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
510 PM CDT WED SEP 10 1986

...TORNADO WATCH FOR MOST OF NORTHEAST KANSAS UNTIL 11PM...

A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR MUCH OF NORTHEAST KANSAS UNTIL
11PM CDT TONIGHT. THE WATCH INCLUDES THE CITIES OF TOPEKA...MANHATTAN
...JUNCTION CITY...EMPORIA AND ATCHISON.

AT 510PM A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS REACHED FROM WYMORE NEBRASKA
TO NEAR CLAY CENTER TO NEAR SALINA KANSAS. THE LINE WAS MOVING EAST
AT ABOUT 20 TO 30 MPH AND WILL BE MOVING ACROSS MARSHALL AND RILEY
COUNTIES BETWEEN 530PM AND 630PM THIS EVENING.

ALTHOUGH NO REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER HAVE YET OCCURRED...HAIL...HIGH
WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLY A TORNADO ARE POSSIBLE.

RESIDENTS OF NORTHEAST KANSAS SHOULD BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING
WEATHER CONDITIONS.

AKULOW

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 10, 5:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPOttawa60 min
Sep 10, 5:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPEllsworth60 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.