Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Topeka, KS

September 18, 1986Republic County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at Sep 18, 1986, 8:18 PM CDT for Republic County, Kansas. It was in force for 27 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
Sep 18, 1986, 8:18 PM CDT (01:18 UTC)
Expired
Sep 18, 1986, 8:45 PM CDT
In force
27 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Republic 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
Sep 18, 8:25 PM CDTTornado F3Republic, 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, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 196 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 1986-09-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3628 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 1986-09-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 179 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
3628 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-55 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
942 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
179 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
253 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
3.3
Supercell composite
14.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCNK 190118
TORCNK
KSC157-190145-

BULLETIN EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
818 PM CDT THU SEP 18 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE
UNTIL 845 PM CDT  FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

NORTHCENTRAL  KANSAS...NORTHERN REPUBLIC

AT 815 PM CDT  A TORNADO  WAS REPORTED AT HURLEY CORMOR KANSAS...15
MILES NORTHWEST OF BELLEVILLE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.



IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO..YOU SHOULD GO TO A BASEMENT
SHELTER IF AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE GO TO A CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE.  CARS AND MOBILE HOMES SHOULD BE ABANDONED FOR
A REINFORCED BUILDING.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.  DON/T HESITATE.
A FEW SECONDS MIGHT SAVE YOUR LIFE.
SCHNEIDER

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, Sep 18, 3:20 PM CDT, 4 hours 58 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
315 PM CDT THU SEP 18 1986

THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED RAPIDLY OVER NORTHEAST KANSAS THIS AFTERNOON.
ALTHOUGH NONE HAVE REACHED THE SEVERE STAGE...HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS
AND PEA SIZE HAIL HAVE BEEN REPORTED AS THE THUNDERSTORM MOVED THROUGH
SENECA. THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL BE MOVING OVER SABETHA BY 330 PM CDT
AND INTO NEBRASKA BY 400 PM CDT.

THE HEAVY RAIN THAT IS FALLING IN THIS THUNDERSTORM IS ADDING MORE
WATER TO THE PREVIOUSLY SATURATED GROUND IN NORTHEAST KANSAS. PEOPLE
ALONG THE DELEWARE RIVER SHOULD BE ON THE LOOK OUT FOR RAPIDLY RISING
WATER.

WAVRIN

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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.