Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1987
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Topeka, KS
NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at May 18, 1987, 5:26 PM CDT for Lyon County, Kansas. It was in force for 44 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 18, 1987, 5:26 PM CDT (22:26 UTC)
- Expired
- May 18, 1987, 6:10 PM CDT
- In force
- 44 min
- Issued by
- NWS Topeka, KS
- Area
- Whole counties
County Lyon 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 18, 5:35 PM CDT | Tornado F1 | Lyon, 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 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 75 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1107 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -89 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 900 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 14 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 10 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 28 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KTOP 182226 TORTOP KSC111-182310- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 526 PM CDT MON MAY 18 1987 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 610 PM CDT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF EAST CENTRAL KANSAS... LYON AT 520 PM CDT...THE LYON COUNTY SHERIFF REPORTED A TORNADO ABOUT 5 MILES WEST OF EMPORIA. THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM GENERATING THIS TORNADO WAS CENTERED JUST TO THE WEST NORTHWEST OF EMPORIA AND MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 10 TO 15 MILES AN HOUR. PERSONS IN AND JUST NORTH OF EMPORIA SHOULD TAKE COVER. FIND SHELTER IMMEDIATELY. BASEMENTS OFFER THE BEST PROTECTION. SMALL ROOMS NEAR THE CENTER OF HOMES AND BUILDING9S ARE ALSO FAIRLY SAFE. MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES OFFER NO SHELTER...SO LEAVE THEM. EVEN A DITCH OF LOW PLACE IS SAFER THAN A MOBILE HOME OR CAR. BILLS
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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 18, 4:33 PM CDT, 53 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 430 PM CDT MON MAY 18 1987 AT 425PM CDT AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM WAS OVER SOUTHERN MORRIS COUNTY AROUND 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF COUNCIL GROVE. THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING NORTHNORTHEAST AROUND 15 MPH. THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING GUSTY WINDS DRENCHING RAINS AND SOME HAIL. OF COURSE DANGEROUS LIGHTNING WILL ALSO ACCOMPANY THIS STORM. THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD CONTINUE TO DEVELOP OVER NORTHEAST KANSAS THROUGH THE REST OF THIS AFTERNOON AND INTO THE EVENING HOURS. SOME OF THE STORMS MAY BE QUITE INTENSE WITH HAIL GUSTY WINDS AND HEAVY RAINS. THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THE STORMS WITH THE VERY HEAVY RAINS COULD MEAN SOME LOCALIZED FLOODING. PERSONS OVER NORTHEAST KANSAS SHOULD BE AWARE OF THE CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS AND SEEK SHELTER IF ONE OF THESE INTENSE STORMS THREATENS. KAYS
The office that day
Everything else NWS Topeka, KS issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 18, 4:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | Lyon | 63 min |
| May 18, 6:16 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TOP | Coffey, Lyon | 64 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1987Every tornado warning in 1987Tornadoes 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.