Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 12, NWS Topeka, KS
NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 18, 1987, 4:57 PM CDT for Lyon County, Kansas. It was in force for 63 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
- May 18, 1987, 4:57 PM CDT (21:57 UTC)
- Expired
- May 18, 1987, 6:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 63 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 18, 5:35 PM CDT | Tornado F1 | Lyon, 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 12:00Z, 10.0 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
- 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
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, 4:33 PM CDT, 24 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 430 PM CDT MON MAY 18 1987 AT 425PM CDT AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM WAS OVER SOUTHERN MORRIS COUNTY AROUND 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF COUNCIL GROVE. THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING NORTHNORTHEAST AROUND 15 MPH. THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING GUSTY WINDS DRENCHING RAINS AND SOME HAIL. OF COURSE DANGEROUS LIGHTNING WILL ALSO ACCOMPANY THIS STORM. THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD CONTINUE TO DEVELOP OVER NORTHEAST KANSAS THROUGH THE REST OF THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EVENING HOURS. SOME OF THE STORMS MAY BE QUITE INTENSE WITH HAIL GUSTY WINDS AND HEAVY RAINS. THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THE STORMS WITH THE VERY HEAVY RAINS COULD MEAN SOME LOCALIZED FLOODING. PERSONS OVER NORTHEAST KANSAS SHOULD BE AWARE OF THE CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS AND SEEK SHELTER IF ONE OF THESE INTENSE STORMS THREATENS. KAYS
The office that day
Everything else NWS Topeka, KS issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 18, 5:26 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TOP | Lyon | 44 min |
| May 18, 6:16 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TOP | Coffey, Lyon | 64 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.