Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 71, NWS Wichita, KS

July 5, 1987Marion County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 5, 1987, 5:05 AM CDT for Marion County, Kansas. It was in force for 65 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 5, 1987, 5:05 AM CDT (10:05 UTC)
Expired
Jul 5, 1987, 6:10 AM CDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Wichita, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Marion 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, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 145 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 1987-07-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 528 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 1987-07-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -14 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
528 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-91 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1037 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-14 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
42 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.0
Supercell composite
-0.3

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, Jul 5, 3:40 AM CDT, 1 hour 25 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
335 AM CDT SUN JUL 5 1987

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR MUCH OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
KANSAS...AND NORTHERN OKLAHOMA...

AT 3 30 AM CDT...INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS AGAIN PLAGUE KANSAS FROM THE
CENTRAL INTO THE SOUTHWEST...MAINLY NORTHWEST OF A LINE FROM 20 MILES
NORTH OF MCPHERSON SOUTHWEST TO LARNED TO THE OKLAHOMA BORDER SOUTH
OF DODGE CITY.  THE STRONGEST STORM WAS ABOUT 20 MIL(ES WEST OF LARNED.
THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 40 TO 45 MPH.

OTHER WEAKER THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING FROM SOUTHEAST KANSAS
INTO NORTHEAST OKLAHOMA. MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS WAS TO THE NORTH/
EAST AT 20 TO 25 MPH.
Special weather statement, Jul 5, 4:15 AM CDT, 50 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
415 AM CDT SUN JUL 5 1987

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR MUCH OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
KANSAS...AND NORTHERN OKLAHOMA...UNTIL 9AM CDT...

AT 410 AM CDT...INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING RAPIDLY ACROSS WESTERN
KANSAS.  THE LEADING EDGE WAS FROM COLDWATER TO ST JOHN TO LYON TO
SOUTHEAST OF SALINA AT HOPE. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

HAIL...VERY STRONG GUSTY WINDS...AND VERY HEAVY RAINS CAN BE EXPECTED
FROM THESE STORMS AS THEY MOVE THROUGH CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS.

CONTINUE TO MONITOR RADIO...TELEVISION AND NOAA/NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
RADIO FOR LATER STATMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINOGS.  ALSO BE PREPARED TO
GO TO A SAFE PLACE IF THREATENING WEATHER IS EXPERIENCED OR REPORTED.

FH
Special weather statement, Jul 5, 4:39 AM CDT, 26 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
440 AM CDT SUN JUL 5 1987

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR MUCH OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHWEST
KANSAS...AND NORTHERN OKLAHOMA...UNTIL 9AM CDT...

AT 430 AM CDT...INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS FROM CENTRAL INTO SOUTHWEST
KANSAS...MAINLY IN A LINE FROM JUST WEST OF WHITE CITY TO GREAT BEND
TO GREENSBURG TO THE OKLAHOMA BORDER SOUTH OF ASHLAND.

THESE STORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT AROUND 40 MPH AND WILL BE
ACCOMPANIED WITH BRIEF VERY HEAVY RAINS...SOME HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY
WINDS.  THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE LOCATED NEAR ASHLAND...JUST SOUTHWEST
OF GREENSBURG...JUST WEST OF GREAT BEND...NEAR MCPHERSON AND ABOUT
15 MILES SOUTH OF SALINA.

THESE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS MAINLY
INTO RENO AND KINGMAN COUNTIES BY 5 30 AM THEN ACROSS THE REST OF
SOUTH CENTRAL COUNTIES BY 8 AM CDT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 5, 5:34 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTKingman26 min
Jul 5, 6:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSedgwick26 min
Jul 5, 6:17 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSumner33 min
Jul 5, 6:27 AM CDTTornado WarningICTButler, Sedgwick33 min
Jul 5, 7:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTButler29 min
Jul 5, 7:18 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTChautauqua, Elk62 min
Jul 5, 7:18 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTGreenwood62 min
Jul 5, 8:19 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTAllen, Bourbon, Neosho61 min
Jul 5, 8:19 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTCrawford61 min
Jul 5, 8:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTWilson30 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.