Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Topeka, KS

May 16, 1986Riley County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at May 16, 1986, 4:08 PM CDT for Riley County, Kansas. It was in force for 37 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 16, 1986, 4:08 PM CDT (21:08 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 1986, 4:45 PM CDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Riley 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, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 100 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 1986-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1823 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 1986-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 165 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
1823 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-69 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
706 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
165 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
180 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
6.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTOP 162109
TORTOP
KSC161-162145-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
408 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AT TOPEKA KS HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 445 PM CDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OR COUNTIES IN
NORTHEAST KANSAS...

                      NORTHERN RILEY

AT 400 PM CDT A TORNADO WAS REPORTED 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF GREEN OR 5
MILES EAST OF CLAY CENTER IN CLAY COUNTY. THIS TORNADO IS EXPECTED
TO MOVE INTO NORTHERN RILEY COUNTY SHORTLY.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE REMAINDER OF
RILEY..NORTHERN GEARY..AND WESTERN MARSHALL COUNTY.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM...GO TO A SAFE PLACE IMMEDIATELY.

MCNULTY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 12:33 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPOsborne57 min
May 16, 5:07 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPSmith53 min
May 16, 5:24 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPPottawatomie51 min
May 16, 6:27 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMarshall, Pottawatomie, Riley58 min
May 16, 6:27 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPNemaha58 min
May 16, 6:40 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPMarshall, Nemaha, Pottawatomie, Riley4 hr
May 16, 6:40 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPBrown4 hr
May 16, 7:18 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPAtchison57 min
May 16, 8:19 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPWashington61 min
May 16, 8:48 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPClay32 min
May 16, 9:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPRiley30 min
May 16, 2:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPClay, Cloud57 min
May 16, 3:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPCloud, Ottawa53 min
May 16, 3:40 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPClay50 min
May 16, 4:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMarshall, Riley45 min
May 16, 4:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPGeary45 min
May 16, 4:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPWashington55 min
May 16, 4:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPEllsworth, Saline55 min
May 16, 4:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPClay57 min
May 16, 4:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMarshall, Pottawatomie, Riley50 min
May 16, 4:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPGeary50 min
May 16, 4:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMcPherson61 min
May 16, 5:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPRice67 min
May 16, 5:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDickinson, Saline60 min
May 16, 5:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPRiley41 min
May 16, 6:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMcPherson42 min
May 16, 6:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPPottawatomie52 min
May 16, 6:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPJackson42 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.