Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 10, NWS Wichita, KS

May 18, 1987Cowley County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 18, 1987, 6:15 PM CDT for Cowley County, Kansas. It was in force for 65 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 18, 1987, 6:15 PM CDT (23:15 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1987, 7:20 PM CDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Wichita, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Cowley 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, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 222 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 1987-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1107 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 1987-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 10 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
1107 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-89 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
900 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
28 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, May 18, 3:57 PM CDT, 2 hours 18 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
355 AM CDT MON MAY 18 1987

AT 355 AM A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS DEVELOPING OVER CENTRAL KANSAS
JUST WEST OF COTTONWOOD FALLS AND STRONG CITY.

THIS STROM IS JUST THE FIRST OF MANY EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER
THE EASTERN PART OF KANSAS THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.

STAY TUNED TO RADIO...TELEVISION...AND NOAA/NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

FH
Special weather statement, May 18, 4:17 PM CDT, 1 hour 58 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
417 PM CDT MON MAY 18 1987

AT 415 AM AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM...CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HEAVY RAINS
AND HAIL WAS OVER CENTRAL KANSAS 8 MILES NORTH OF COTTONWOOD FALLS.

THE MOVEMENT WAS NORTH AT 10 TO 15 MILES AN HOUR.

STAY TUNED TO RADIO...TELEVISION...AND NOAA/NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

FH
Special weather statement, May 18, 4:33 PM CDT, 1 hour 42 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
435 PM CDT MON MAY 18 1987

AT 430 PM AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM...CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HEAVY RAINS
AND HAIL WAS OVER CENTRAL KANSAS ON THE CHASE/MORRIS COUNTY LINE
NORTH OF COTTONWOOD FALLS.

THE MOVEMENT WAS NORTH NORTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 MILES AN HOUR.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING OVER NORTHERN OKLAHOMA.

STAY TUNED TO RADIO...TELEVISION...AND NOAA/NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

FH
Special weather statement, May 18, 5:06 PM CDT, 1 hour 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
505 PM CDT MON MAY 18 1987

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR EXTREME NORTH
   CHASE COUNTY UNTIL 520 PM CDT...

AT 500 PM A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM...CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HEAVY RAINS
AND LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...WAS OVER EAST CENTRAL KANSAS IN
EXTREME NORTHEAST CHASE COUNTY.

THE MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 MILES AN HOUR.

OTHER THUNDERSTO#RMS WERE OVER NORTHERN OKLAHOMA SOUTH OF ANTHONY AND
ARKANSAS CITY.

STAY TUNED TO RADIO...TELEVISION...AND NOAA/NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

FH
Special weather statement, May 18, 5:42 PM CDT, 33 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
540 PM CDT MON MAY 18 1987

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR EXTREME NORTH CHASE COUNTY
   EXPIRED AT 520PM CDT...

AT 530 PM INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS...CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HEAVY RAINS
AND LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...WERE OVER EAST CENTRAL KANSAS
FROM 25 WEST OF TOPEKA NEAR ALMA TO EMPORIA.  A TORNADO WAS REPORTED
5 MILES WEST OF EMPORIA AT 523PM CDT MOVING EAST.

THE MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER SOUTHEAST KANSAS NEAR WINFIELD TO
ARKANSAS CITY THEN INTO NORTH CENTRAL OKLAHOMA MOVING NORTHEAST AT
15 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR.

STAY TUNED TO RADIO...TELEVISION...AND NOAA/BNATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.    FH
Special weather statement, May 18, 5:58 PM CDT, 17 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
555 PM CDT MON MAY 18 1987

AT 550 PM INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS...CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HEAVY RAINS
AND LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...WERE FROM 10 MILES SOUTH THROUGH
20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ARKANSAS CITY.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 15 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL BE MOVING INTO SOUTHEAST
COWLEY AND SOUTHWEST CHAUTAUQUA COUNTIES BY 630 TO 645 PM CDT.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE 30 TO 60 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ARKANSAS CITY ALSO
MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR.

STAY TUNED TO RADIO...TELEVISION...AND NOAA/NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

FHQ

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 4:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTChase33 min
May 18, 6:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTGreenwood29 min
May 18, 6:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTWoodson26 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kansas, 1987Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1987

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.