Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Topeka, KS

May 18, 1987Coffey County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 18, 1987, 7:22 PM CDT for Coffey County, Kansas. It was in force for 58 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 18, 1987, 7:22 PM CDT (00:22 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1987, 8:20 PM CDT
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Coffey 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, 0.4 hours before the alert went out and 85 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 1987-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4455 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 1987-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 16 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
4455 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1095 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
16 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.8
Supercell composite
4.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTOP 190022 RRA
SVRTOP
KSC031-190120-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
722 PM CDT MON MAY 18 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 820 PM CDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF
 
EAST CENTRAL KANSAS... COFFEY
 
AT 720 PM CDT...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE INDICATED OVER COFFEY
COUNTY...ESPECIALLY THE SOUTHERN HALF. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE
MOVING TO "THE EAST AT 10 TO 15 MPH.
 
THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL LIKELY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...HEAVY RAIN...DAMAGING
WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.  SEEK SHELTER FROM THIS STORM.
 
BILLS

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, 2 hours 49 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 19, 5:47 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPWashington63 min
May 19, 5:47 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPRepublic43 min
May 19, 5:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPJewell39 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.