Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 71, NWS Topeka, KS

July 7, 1987Ottawa County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 7, 1987, 9:00 PM CDT for Ottawa County, Kansas. It was in force for 35 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
Jul 7, 1987, 9:00 PM CDT (02:00 UTC)
Expired
Jul 7, 1987, 9:35 PM CDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Ottawa 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
Jul 7, 9:30 PM CDTHail 1.75Ottawa, 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, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 174 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 1987-07-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3827 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 1987-07-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 82 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
3827 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
597 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
82 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
132 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 KCNK 080200
SVRCNK
KSC143-080300-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
900 PM CDT TUE JUL 7 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1000 PM CDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF
 
NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS... NORTHERN OTTAWA
 
AT 9 PM CDT RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 10 MILES NORTH OF
MINNEAPOLIS NEAR DELPHOS.  THE STORM IS MOVING VERY SLOWLY WTO THE
NORTH.  AT 850 PM GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED 3 MILES EAST OF
DELPHOS.
 
THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL LIKELY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...HEAVY RAIN...DAMAGING
WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.  SEEK SHELTER FROM THIS STORM.
 
LS

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 7, 6:39 PM CDT, 2 hours 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
635 PM CDT TUE JUL 7 1987

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS...

AT 635 PM AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPED RAPIDLY 12 MILES SOUTHEAST
OF CONCORDIA NEAR MILTONVALE.  THE THUNDERSTORM WAS PRODUCING VERY HEAVY
RAIN POSSIBLE HAIL GUSTY WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.  THE
THUNDERSTORM SHOULD MOVE NORTH AT 5 TO 10 MPH.

ANOTHER NEWLY DEVELOPED STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS 10 MILE SOUTH OF
CLAY CENTER.  THE THUNDERSTORM WAS PRODUCING HEAVY RAIN GUSTY WINDS
AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.  THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING NORTH AT 10 MPH.

PHILLIPS
Special weather statement, Jul 7, 7:40 PM CDT, 1 hour 20 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
740 PM CDT TUE JUL 7 1987

...HEAVY THUNDERSTORM IN SHAWNEE COUNTY...

AT 740PM CDT A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS IN WESTERN SHAWNEE COUNTY
ABOUT 15 MILES WEST OF TOPEKA. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHNORTHEAST
AND BETWEEN 740 AND 830PM WILL MOVE ACROSS NORTHERN AND WESTERN SHAWNEE
COUNTY.

VERY HEAVY RAIN...HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS TO AROUND 45 MPH ARE POSSIBLE
WITH THIS STORMS. IN ADDITION A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT
FOR THE COUNTY TONIGHT.

AKULOW

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 7, 7:15 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPClay65 min
Jul 7, 7:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPClay58 min
Jul 7, 7:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPShawnee40 min
Jul 7, 7:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPClay, Ottawa64 min
Jul 7, 8:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPWabaunsee34 min
Jul 7, 9:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPSaline37 min
Jul 7, 10:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMitchell64 min
Jul 7, 10:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPLincoln60 min
Jul 8, 3:40 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPOsborne2 hr

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.