Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 95, NWS Topeka, KS

August 17, 1987McPherson County, Saline County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 17, 1987, 9:33 PM CDT for McPherson County, Saline County, Kansas. It was in force for 57 min. 3 reports 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
Aug 17, 1987, 9:33 PM CDT (02:33 UTC)
Expired
Aug 17, 1987, 10:30 PM CDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

Counties McPherson County, KS, Saline 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
Aug 17, 9:52 PM CDTHail 1Saline, KS
Aug 17, 9:56 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Mcpherson, KS
Aug 17, 10:00 PM CDTHail 0.75Saline, 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, 2.6 hours before the alert went out and 180 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 1987-08-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2117 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 1987-08-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 12 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
2117 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1440 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
98 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
3.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, Aug 17, 7:42 PM CDT, 1 hour 51 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT CORRECTION TIME
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
740 PM CDT MON AUG 17 1987

...THUNDERSTORMS ARELMOVING INTO NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS THIS EVENING...

AT 740 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN SPREADING
INTO WESTERN SMITH COUNTY FROM NEAR SMITH CENTER TO KENSINGTON.  AN
INTENSE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 25 MILES NORTH OF HILL CITY. THE THUNDER/
STORM WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 20 MPH.  BRIEF BUT HEAV?Y RAIN AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING CAN BE EXPECTED FROM THESE THUNDERSORMS.

PETERSEN
Special weather statement, Aug 17, 9:21 PM CDT, 12 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT CORRECTION TIME
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
920 PM CDT MON AUG 17 1987

AT 920 PM CDT RADAR INTICATED AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHWEST MCPHERSON
COUNTY JUST WEST OF LINDSBORG.  SMALL HAIL WAS REPORTED WITH THIS THUNDER/
STORM AT MARQUETTE.   THE THUNDERSTORM WILL MOVE TO THE SOUTHEAST AND WILL
LIKELY MOVE INTO THE MCPHERSON AREA BY 10 PM CDT.  VERY HEAY RAIN STRONG
GUSTY WINDS AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM.

PETERSEN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 17, 10:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDickinson56 min
Aug 17, 10:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPBarton60 min
Aug 17, 10:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPRussell53 min
Aug 17, 10:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMcPherson58 min
Aug 17, 10:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPWashington61 min
Aug 17, 11:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMarshall, Riley63 min
Aug 17, 11:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPBarton57 min
Aug 17, 11:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPWashington57 min
Aug 18, 12:11 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPPottawatomie59 min
Aug 18, 12:11 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMarshall, Riley39 min
Aug 18, 12:18 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPBarton62 min
Aug 18, 12:28 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPRice62 min
Aug 18, 12:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMcPherson60 min
Aug 18, 1:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPLincoln, Russell60 min
Aug 18, 9:02 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPBarton34 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.