Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 9, NWS Topeka, KS

May 2, 1987Jackson County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 2, 1987, 8:33 PM CDT for Jackson County, Kansas. It was in force for 27 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 2, 1987, 8:33 PM CDT (01:33 UTC)
Expired
May 2, 1987, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
27 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Jackson 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
May 2, 8:43 PM CDTHail 1.25Jackson, 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, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 48 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 1987-05-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2356 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 1987-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 116 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
2356 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1214 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
116 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
235 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.8
Supercell composite
6.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTOP 030135
SVRTOP
KSC085-030200-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
833 PM CDT SAT MAY 2 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 900 PM CDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF
 
NORTHEAST KANSAS... NORTHERN JACKSON
 
AT 830 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHERN JACKSON
COUNTY. THE STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTH AT 20 MILES7 AN HOUR.
 
THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL LIKELY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...HEAVY RAIN...DAMAGING
WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.  SEEK SHELTER FROM THIS STORM.
 
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, May 2, 7:52 PM CDT, 41 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
751  PM CDT MAY 2 1987

A STRONG THUNDERATORM WAS 6 MILES SOUTHEAST OF CONCORDIA MOVING TO
THE NORTHEAST AT 10 MILES AN HOUR. THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS PRODUCING
VERY HEAVY RAIN AND SOME HAIL.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS BUILD UP RAPIDILY AND PRODUCE RAIN AND SOME HAIL
BEFORE DYING DOWN.
STAPLETON

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 3, 4:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPOsage, Shawnee34 min
May 3, 5:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDouglas, Osage, Shawnee33 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.