Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 38, NWS Topeka, KS

November 15, 1988Dickinson County, McPherson County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Nov 15, 1988, 11:27 AM CST for Dickinson County, McPherson County, Kansas. It was in force for 48 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
Nov 15, 1988, 11:27 AM CST (17:27 UTC)
Expired
Nov 15, 1988, 12:15 PM CST
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

Counties Dickinson County, KS, McPherson 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
Nov 15, 11:52 AM CSTHail 0.75Dickinson, 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, 5.5 hours before the alert went out and 158 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 12:00Z on 1988-11-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1080 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 12:00Z on 1988-11-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 228 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
1080 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-191 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
785 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
228 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
227 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.4

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, Nov 15, 7:00 AM CST, 4 hours 27 minutes before
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Special weather statement, Nov 15, 9:13 AM CST, 2 hours 14 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
914 AM CST TUE NOV 15 1988

...NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED IN EXTREME NORTHWEST KANSAS
   BY AFTERNOON...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS A GOOD BET FOR THE EASTERN
   HALF OF KANSAS THIS AFTERNOON...

NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED IN NORTHWEST KANSAS BY AFTERNOON
AS A VERY STRONG AND FAST MOVING WINTER STORM WILL BARREL OUT OF THE
ROCKIES AND INTO THE PLAINS TODAY. RAIN HAS DEVELOED OVER WESTERN
KANSAS THIS MORNING...AND WILL CHANGE TO SNOW IN EXTREME NORTHWESTERN
KANSAS THIS AFTERNOON. VERY STRONG NORTHWEST WINDS OF 30 TO 40 MILES AN
HOUR WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 50 MILES AN HOUR WILL CAUSE BLOWING AND
DRIFTING SNOW WITH NEAR BLIZZARD CONDITIONS LIKELY AT TIMES IN THE
NORTHWEST DURING THE AFTERNOON. ALL INTERESTS IN NORTHWEST KANSAS SHOULD
TAKE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS AND BE PREPARED FOR THIS DANGEROUS BLAST OF
WINTERY WEATHER.

THE SNOW SHOULD END THIS EVENING WITH TOTAL ACCUMULATIONS OF TWO TO FOUR
INCHES EXPECTED IN THE FAR NORTHWEST. THE STRONG AND GUSTY NORTHWEST
WINDS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE EVENING BEFORE TAPERING OFF AFTER
MIDNIGHT.

IN CONTRAST TO THE WINTERY WEATHER OF NORTHWEST KANSAS...SPRING LIKE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL RUMBLE ACROSS THE EASTERN HALF OF KANSAS DURING
THE AFTERNOON WITH A GOOD CHANCE THAT SOME OF THE STORMS WILL BE
SEVERE.

AT 9AM...COLDER AIR WAS SETTLING INTO NORTHWEST KANSAS WHERE WINDS HAD
GONE NORTHERLY AT 30 MPH WITH GUST TO OVER 45 MPH. GOODLAND HAD RAIN
WITH A TEMPERATURE OF 35.

CRANDALL
Special weather statement, Nov 15, 11:18 AM CST, 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1115 AM CST TUE NOV 15 1988

AT 1110 AM CST INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED OVER CENTRAL AND
SOUTHCENTRAL KANSAS. LESSER INTENSITY THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER
LYON COUNTY NEAR EMPORIA.

THE LEADING EDGE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS LAY FROM NEAR ABILENE
TO SOUTHWEST CHANSE COUNTY AND NORTHERN GREENWOOD COUNTY. THUNDERSTORMS
WERE DEVELOPING RAPIDLY AS THEY RACED NORTHEAST OVER 50 MPH.

CURRENT RATE OF MOVEMENT WOULD PLACE THE LEADING EDGE OF THUNDERSTORMS
FROM NEAR MANHATTAN TO EMPORIA BY NOON AND FROM NEAR SENECA TO
TOPEKA TO BURLINGTON BETWEEN 1230 AND 130 PM CST.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 5PM CST FOR MUC0H OF NORTHEAST
AND EASTCENTRAL KANSAS.

KAYS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 15, 12:09 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPGeary, Riley51 min
Nov 15, 12:24 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMarshall36 min
Nov 15, 12:57 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPJackson, Shawnee48 min
Nov 15, 1:06 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPCoffey54 min
Nov 15, 1:10 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPCoffey, Osage50 min
Nov 15, 1:38 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPJackson, Osage, Shawnee, Wabaunsee52 min
Nov 15, 1:38 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPNemaha52 min
Nov 15, 1:38 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPCoffey, Lyon52 min
Nov 15, 2:09 PM CSTTornado WarningTOPShawnee36 min
Nov 15, 2:41 PM CSTTornado WarningTOPAtchison16 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kansas, 1988Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1988

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.