Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 8, NWS Topeka, KS

April 30, 1987McPherson County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 30, 1987, 8:05 PM CDT for McPherson County, Kansas. It was in force for 30 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 30, 1987, 8:05 PM CDT (01:05 UTC)
Expired
Apr 30, 1987, 8:35 PM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County McPherson 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, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 187 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 1987-05-01Temperature 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 1987-05-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -3 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
2224 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
139 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 010107
SVRCNK
KSC113-010210-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
805 PM CDT THU APR 30 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 910 PM CDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF
 
CENTRAL KANSAS... MCPHERSON
 
AT 805 PM CDT RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER MCPHERSON
MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 10 MPH
 
THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL LIKELY PRODBUCE LARGE HAIL...HEAVY RAIN...DAMAGING
WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.  SEEK SHELTER FROM THIS STORM.
 
STAPLETON

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 30, 5:52 PM CDT, 2 hours 13 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
550 PM CDT THU APR 30 1987

AT 545 PM CDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 15 MILES SOUTHEAST
OF EMPORIA. THE STORM WAS OF SUFFICIENT INTENSITY THAT SMALL HAIL...
GUSTY WINDS...BRIEF HEAVY RAINS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING. THE STORM WAS
MOVING EASTNORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS PART OF A LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
THAT EXTENDED FROM NEAR JOPLIN MISSOURI TO 30 MILES SOUTH OF SALINA
KANSAS. THE LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING EASTNORTHEAST
AT 10 TO 15 MPH.

WAVRIN
Special weather statement, Apr 30, 5:57 PM CDT, 2 hours 8 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT  ...CORRECTION TO LINE 3.
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
550 PM CDT THU APR 30 1987

AT 545 PM CDT...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 15 MILES SOUTHEAST
OF EMPORIA. THE STORM WAS OF SUFFICIENT INTENSITY THAT SMALL HAIL...
GUSTY WINDS...BRIEF HEAVY RAINS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING MAY OCCUR. THE
STORM WAS MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS PART OF A LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
THAT EXTENDED FROM NEAR JOPLIN MISSOURI TO 30 MILES SOUTH OF SALINA
KANSAS. THE LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING EAST NORTHEAST
AT 10 TO 15 MPH.

WAVRIN
Special weather statement, Apr 30, 7:07 PM CDT, 58 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
700  PM CDT THU APR 30 1987

AT 700 PM CDT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE SOUTH O A LINE FORM 15
MILES SOUSTH OF HAYS KANSAS  TO 15 MILES SOUTH OF SALINA TO OSAGE CITY
KANSAS. THEY WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 10 TO 15 MILES AN HOUR.
HEAVY RAIN GUSTY WINDS AND SOME PEA SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED 7 MILES
EAST OF MCPHERSON AT 700 PM CDT.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BUILD UNTIL AFTER SUNSET THEN GRADUALLY
DIE OUT.
STAPLETON
Special weather statement, Apr 30, 7:48 PM CDT, 17 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
745  PM CDT THU APR 30 1987

AT 745 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN CENTRAL
KANSAS SOUTH OF A LINE FROM OSAGE CITY TO COUNCIL GROVE TO LINSBORG
TO 20 MILES NORTHWEST OF GREAT BEND.

THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN EASTERN MCPHERSON AND WESTERN
MARION COUNTMES.  THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING AND SMALL HAIL WAS LOCATED 5 TO 10 MILES EAST O$F
MCPHERSON AND 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF MCPHERSON. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE
MOVING TO THE EAST AT 10 MPH WHILE DEVELOPING TO THE WEST.
PETERSEN

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.