Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 7, NWS Topeka, KS

March 31, 1986Ellsworth County, Saline County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 31, 1986, 7:00 PM CST for Ellsworth County, Saline County, Kansas. It was in force for 60 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
Mar 31, 1986, 7:00 PM CST (01:00 UTC)
Expired
Mar 31, 1986, 8:00 PM CST
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

Counties Ellsworth County, KS, Saline 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, 7:29 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 50Saline, 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 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 203 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 00:00Z on 1986-04-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 749 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 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 00:00Z on 1986-04-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 55 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
749 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-14 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2309 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
55 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
149 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCNK 010100
SVRCNK
KSC027-169-053-143-201-010200-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 800 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES OF


NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS...CLAY...SALINE...EASTERN ELLSWORTH...OTTAWA 
 AND WASHINGTON

AT 700PM A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WAS INDICATED FROM 20 MILES
NORTHEAST OF WASHINGTON IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS TO NEAR ELLSWORTH
IN CENTRAL KANSAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT.  THIS WARNING IS FOR THE DAMAGING
WINDS AND LARGE HAIL OF A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM.  TO<RNADOES 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, 3:49 PM CST, 3 hours 11 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, 2 hours 12 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
Special weather statement, Mar 31, 6:36 PM CST, 24 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
635 PM CST MON MAR 31 1986

      ...THUNDERSTORMS APPROACH NORTHEAST KANSAS...

AT 6.30 PM A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED OVER NORTH
CENTRAL KANSAS BETWEEN WASHINGTON AND CONCORDIA.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS
WERE MOVING EAST AND WILL BE ENTERING MARSHALL COUNTY AND THE CITY
OF MARYSVILLE BY 7.30 PM.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 50
MILES AN "HOUR.  RESIDENTS OF NORTHEAST KANSAS NEAR THE CITY OF
MARYSVILLE SHOULD TAKE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS FOR THUNDERSTORM
SAFETY.

SUNKEL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 31, 6:08 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPCloud, Republic, Washington52 min
Mar 31, 6:08 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPClay52 min
Mar 31, 6:20 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPOttawa40 min
Mar 31, 6:24 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPEllsworth36 min
Mar 31, 7:00 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPClay, Ottawa60 min
Mar 31, 7:00 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPWashington60 min
Mar 31, 7:36 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDickinson54 min
Mar 31, 7:43 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMcPherson, Rice47 min
Mar 31, 8:01 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPClay29 min
Mar 31, 8:01 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPSaline29 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.