Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1986
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Topeka, KS
NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at Apr 7, 1986, 6:49 PM CST for Lyon County, Kansas. It was in force for 41 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 7, 1986, 6:49 PM CST (00:49 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 7, 1986, 7:30 PM CST
- In force
- 41 min
- Issued by
- NWS Topeka, KS
- Area
- Whole counties
County Lyon 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 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 75 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.
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KTOP 080049 TORTOP KSC111-080130- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 649 PM CST MON APR 7 1986 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF EAST CENTRAL KANSAS...LYON AT 645PM A TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY RADAR 20 MILES NORTHWEST OF EMPORIA KANSAS. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING EAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR. FIND SHELTER IMMEDIATELY. BASEMENTS OFFER BEST PROTECTION. SMALL ROOMS NEAR THE CENTER OF HOMES AND BUILDINGS ARE ALSO FAIRLY SAFE. MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES OFFER NO SHELTER..SO LEAVE THEM. EVEN A DITCH OR LOW PLACE IS SAFER THAN A MOBILE HOME OR CAR. SUNKEL
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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, 3 hours 13 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 58 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 48 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, 2 hours 11 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, 1 hour 6 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
Special weather statement, Apr 7, 6:36 PM CST, 13 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS 635 PM CST MON APR 7 1986 ...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 74 IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM CST FOR CENTRAL AND NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS... AT 630 PM CST...INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN CENTRAL KANSAS ABOUT 15 MILES SOUTH OF ABILENE AND 20 MILES SOUTH OF JUNCTION CITY. A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS 10 MILES NORTH OF COUNCIL GROVE. VERY HEAVY RAINS.. GUSTY WINDS AND HAIL ARE TO BE EXPECTED FROM THESE STORMS AS THEY MOVE EAST AT 10 MILES AN HOUR. ES
The office that day
Everything else NWS Topeka, KS issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 7, 6:11 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | Douglas | 49 min |
| Apr 7, 6:21 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | Morris | 39 min |
| Apr 7, 7:31 PM CST | Tornado Warning | TOP | Lyon | 29 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1986Every tornado warning in 1986Tornadoes 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.