Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS Topeka, KS

April 12, 1987Lyon County, Osage County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 12, 1987, 10:19 PM CDT for Lyon County, Osage County, Kansas. It was in force for 41 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
Apr 12, 1987, 10:19 PM CDT (03:19 UTC)
Expired
Apr 12, 1987, 11:00 PM CDT
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

Counties Lyon County, KS, Osage 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 12, 10:40 PM CDTHail 1.75Lyon, 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 00:00Z, 3.3 hours before the alert went out and 56 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 1987-04-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1987-04-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 218 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2076 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
218 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
445 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTOP 130326 COR
SVRTOP
KSC111-139-130400-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1019 PM CDT SUN APR 12 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 PM CDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

EAST CENTRAL KANSAS... LYON... WESTERN OSAGE

GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED BY THE COUNTY SHERIFF 3 MILES SOUTH
OF EMPORIA IN LYON COUNTY AT 1017 PM CDT. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTH
EAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR.

TAKE COVER. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...
DAMAGING WINDS...HEAVY RAIN AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

HEATHFIELD

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, Apr 12, 6:51 PM CDT, 3 hours 28 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
650 PM CDT SUN APR 12 1987

A SNOW ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHWEST KANSAS TONIGHT INTO
MONDAY FORENOON WHILE A LIVESTOCK ADVISORY IS POSTED FOR THE
REST OF WESTERN KANSAS TONIGHT INTO MONDAY.

IN THE FAR WEST AND NORTHWEST...OCCASIONAL SNOW MAY ACCUMULATE UP
TO 5 INCHES BEFORE ENDING LATE MONDAY. SLIPPERY DRIVING CONDITIONS
WILL LIKELY RESULT LATER TONIGHT AS TEMPERATURES FALL BELOW FREEZING
WITHIN THE SNOW ADVISORY AREA. SNOW...OR RAIN AND SNOW MIXED SHOULD
DEVELOP OVER THE REMAINDER OF THE WESTERN KANSAS. NORTHERLY WINDS WILL
ALSO INCREASE OVER THE WEST. THIS COMBINATION OF WINDY..COLD WET WEATHER
WILL PLACE A STRESS ON LIVESTOCK...ESPECIALLY THE NEWBORN.

AT EARLY EVENING...VERY LIGHT SNOW WAS CONTINUING AT GOODLAND IN FAR
NORTHWEST KANSAS. GOODLAND REPORTED AN INCH OF SNOW ON THE GROUND AT
4PM CST.

AN ADDITIONAL HAZARD WITH THE WET SNOW AND INCREASING WINDS OVER
WESTERN KANSAS WILL BE THE STRESS PLACED ON POWER LINES. SEVERAL INCHES
OF SNOW ON LINES COULD POSSIBLY BRING SOME POWER OUTAGES BY MONDAY
MORNING.

OVER EASTERN KANSAS...RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL BECOME WIDESPREAD
THROUGH THE NIGHT. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHEAST KANSAS
MAY BE SEVERE OVERNIGHT.

CLEARING SKIES WILL OCCUR OVER WESTERN KANSAS MONDAY NIGHT WITH
DIMINISHING PRECIPITATION IN THE EAST.

BILLS
Special weather statement, Apr 12, 9:47 PM CDT, 32 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
945 PM CDT SUN APR 12 1987

A SNOW ADVISORY CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR NORTHWEST KANSAS TONIGHT
INTO MONDAY FORENOON WHILE A LIVESTOCK ADVISORY IS POSTED FOR THE
REST OF THE WESTERN HALF OF KANSAS TONIGHT INTO MONDAY.

IN THE FAR WEST AND NORTHWEST...OCCASIONAL SNOW MAY ACCUMULATE UP
TO 5 INCHES BEFORE ENDING MONDAY. SLIPPERY DRIVING CONDITIONS
WILL LIKELY RESULT LATER TONIGHT AS TEMPERATURES FALL BELOW FREEZING
WITHIN THE SNOW ADVISORY AREA. SNOW...OR RAIN AND SNOW MIXED SHOULD
DEVELOP OVER THE REMAINDER OF WESTERN KANSAS. NORTHERLY WINDS WILL
ALSO INCREASE OVER THE WEST. THIS COMBINATION OF WINDY..COLD WET WEATHER
WILL PLACE A STRESS ON LIVESTOCK...ESPECIALLY THE NEWBORN.

AN ADDITIONAL HAZARD WITH THE WET SNOW AND INCREASING WINDS OVER
WESTERN KANSAS WILL BE THE STRESS PLACED ON POWER LINES. SEVERAL INCHES
OF SNOW ON LINES COULD POSSIBLY BRING SOME POWER OUTAGE\S BY MONDAY
MORNING.

AT 9PM CDT...LIGHT SNOW WAS CONTINUING AT GOODLAND WHILE OVER CENTRAL
AND EASTERN KANSAS...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE
PREVALENT.

BILLS
Special weather statement, Apr 12, 10:01 PM CDT, 18 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1000 PM CDT SUN APR 13 1987

...THUNDERSTORMS OVER EASTERN KANSAS...

AT 950 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED OVER EAST CENTRAL
KANSAS...MAINLY TO THE SOUTH AND EAST OF TOPEKA. THE THUNDERSTORMS
WERE LOCATED FROM NEAR EMPORIA NORTHEAST TO JUST SOUTH AND EAST OF
LAWRENCE.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE SHOWING INTENSITIES STRONG ENOUGH TO
PRODUCE BRIEF HEAVY RAINS AND SOME PEA SIZE HpAIL.

THE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 35 TO 40 MILES AN
HOUR.

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AND
MOVE ACROSS EASTERN KANSAS THE REST OF TONIGHT.

BILLS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 12, 11:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPFranklin, Osage58 min
Apr 13, 12:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPOsage59 min
Apr 13, 12:29 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDouglas61 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.