Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Topeka, KS

March 31, 1986Lincoln County, Russell County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 31, 1986, 5:53 PM CST for Lincoln County, Russell County, Kansas. It was in force for 57 min. 5 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
Mar 31, 1986, 5:53 PM CST (23:53 UTC)
Expired
Mar 31, 1986, 6:50 PM CST
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

Counties Lincoln County, KS, Russell 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
Mar 31, 5:55 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 70Lincoln, KS
Mar 31, 5:55 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 52Russell, KS
Mar 31, 6:00 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 0Russell, KS
Mar 31, 6:20 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 0Russell, KS
Mar 31, 6:25 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 65Lincoln, 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

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 183 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, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 1986-03-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 102 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, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 1986-03-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 60 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
102 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-273 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2456 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
60 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
77 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCNK 312353
SVRCNK
KSC105-167-010050-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
553 PM CST MON MAR 31 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 650 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES OF


CENTRAL KANSAS...LINCOLN AND RUSSELL

AT 551PM A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WAS INDICATED FROM 25 MILES
NORTHEAST OF RUSSELL TO 25 MILES SOUTHWEST OF RUSSELL MOVING NORTH/
EAST AT 25 MPH.

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...HOWEVER.

THIS STORM WILL LIKELY DROP HAILSTONES 3/4 INCH OR LARGER AND
PRODUCE WINDS 60 MILES AN HOUR OR STRONGER.

ES

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, Mar 31, 12:03 PM CST, 5 hours 50 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1203 PM CST MON MAR 31 1986

       ...LAKE WIND ADVISORIES/EXTREME FIRE DANGER TODAY...

WIND ADVISORIES ARE IN EFFECT FOR THE RECREATIONAL LAKES OF ALL BUT THE
WESTERN THIRD OF KANSAS THIS AFTERNOON. SOUTH WINDS OF 20 TO 30 MILES AN
HOUR WITH GUSTS OF 30 TO 40 MILES AN HOUR WILL CAUSE ROUGH AND CHOPPY
WATER WHICH WILL BE A HAZARD FOR BOATERS.

ANYONE VENTURING ONTO THE LAKES THIS AFTERNOON SHOULD USE EXTREME CAU-
TION.

THE STRONG WINDS...WARM TEMPERATURES AND VERY DRY CONDITIONS OVER THE
STATE WILL ALSO MAKE FOR EXTREME FIRE DANGER CONDITIONS ACROSS MOST OF
KANSAS THIS AFTERNOON. ALL OUTSIDE BURNING SHOULD BE. AVOIDED AS ANY
FIRES WOULD VERY LIKELY BE WHIPPED OUT OF CONTROL BY THE EXPECTED STRONG
AND GUSTY WINDS.
SCHULTZ
Special weather statement, Mar 31, 3:49 PM CST, 2 hours 4 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
345 PM CST MON MAR 31 1986

....A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CST FOR CENTRAL KANSAS
AND A PORTION OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA...

AT 3:45 PM CST RADAR SHOWED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS 10 MILES NORTHEAST
OF PHILLIPSBURG...NEAR HILL CITY AND 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF HAYS IN
CENTRAL AND NORTHCENTRAL KANSAS.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD PRODUCE
BRIEF HEAVY RAINS...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.
THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS 30 MILES WIDE STRETCHES NORTH FROM LARNED IN
CENTRAL KANSAS TO HAYS TO PHILLIPSBURG IN NORTHCENTRAL KANSAS TO
HASTINGS IN SOUTHCfENTRAL NEBRASKA TO SOME 40 MILES WEST OF OMAHA.
THE LINE IS MOVING SLOWLY TO THE EAST.
SCHNEIDER
Special weather statement, Mar 31, 4:48 PM CST, 1 hour 5 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
445 PM CST MON MAR 31 1986

....A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CST FOR CENTRAL KANSAS
AND A PORTION OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA...

AT 4:40 PM CST RADAR SHOWED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS 25 MILES NORTH
NORTHEAST OF HAYS AND 15 MILES NORTHEAST OF SMITH CENTER IN NORTH
CENTRAL KANSAS.  THE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCED BRIEF HEAVY RAINS...
STRONG GUSTY WINDS...HAIL AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.  THE STORMS WERE
MOVING MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.  AT 4:10 PM CST THE SMITH
COUNTY SHERIFF REPORTED WIND GUSTS TO 55 MPH AT SMITH CENTER.

THE STRONG WINDS AT SMITH CENTER DAMAGED SEVERAL BUILDINGS..BLEW DOWN
SEVERAL POWER POLES AND BROKE SOME PLATE GLASS WINDOWS.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS ARE WEST OF A LINE FROM GREAT BEND IN CENTRAL
KANSAS TO 35 MILES NORTHWEST OF CONCORDIA IN NORTHCENTRAL KANSAS TO
20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF YORK IN SOUTH CENTRAL NEBRASKA.  THE THUNDER
STORMS WERE MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.
SCHNEIDER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 31, 5:18 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMitchell, Osborne57 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.