Alert archive / Missouri / Flash Flood Warnings in 1989

Flash Flood Warning 7, NWS Kansas City, MO

September 8, 1989Wyandotte County, Kansas; Clay County, Platte County, Missouri

NWS Kansas City, MO issued this flash flood warning at Sep 8, 1989, 3:41 PM CDT for Wyandotte County, Kansas; Clay County, Platte County, Missouri. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 8, 1989, 3:41 PM CDT (20:41 UTC)
Expired
Sep 8, 1989, 6:45 PM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Kansas City, MO
Area
Whole counties

Counties Wyandotte County, KS, Clay County, MO, Platte County, MO

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 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 90 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 1989-09-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1298 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 1989-09-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 177 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1298 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-161 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1060 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
177 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
147 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 KMCI 082043
FFWMCI
KSC209-MOC165-047-082345-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY MISSOURI
341 PM CDT FRI SEP 8 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN KANSAS CITY MISSOURI HAS ISSUED A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE NTIL  645 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL KANSAS
          ...WYANDOTTE
IN NORTHWEST MISSOURI
          ...SOUTHERN PLATTE
IN WEST CENTRAL MISSOURI
          ...CLAY
 
HEAVY RAINS CONTINUE TO MOVE INTO NORTHERN PORTIONS OF THE KANSAS CITY
METRO AREA. FLOODING HAS ALREADY OCCURRED IN EASTERN PORTIONS OF
WYANDOTTE COUNTY KANSAS AS WELL AS SOUTHERN PLATTE AND CLAY COUNTIES
MISSOURI.
 
 
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE
THE DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.  IF FLASH FLOODING IS
OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY.  MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS.  DO
NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.
 
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IS
IMMINENT.  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN AUTOMOBILES.  DO NOT
ATTEMPT TO CROSS BRIDGES...DIPS...OR LOW SPOTS IF WATER COVERS
THE ROADWAY.  NEVER TRY TO CROSS A FLOWING STREAM...EVEN A SMALL
ONE...ON FOOT.  TO ESCAPE RISING WATER MOVE UP TO HIGHER GROUND.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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, Sep 8, 2:58 PM CDT, 43 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY MO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
255 PM CDT FRI SEP 8 1989

FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR NORTHWEST MISSOURI THE REMAINDER OF THIS
AFTERNOON...

THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN CONTINUE ACROSS NORTHWEST MISSOURI
...NORTHEAST KANSAS...AND SOUTHWEST IOWA AT 255 PM. THE HEAVIEST STORMS
WERE LOCATED FROM TOPEKA KANSAS EASTWARD THROUGH THE KANSAS CITY
METROPOLITAN AREA...TO NEAR MOBERLY MISSOURI...LOCATED APPROXIMATELY
100 MILES EAST OF KANSAS CITY. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING EAST
AT 25 MPH. THIS EASTWARD MOVING LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS PRODUCING
HEAVY RAIN AT TOPEKA AND AT THE KANSAS CITY INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
AT 230 PM. VISIBILITIES ARE LOWERING TO LESS THAN 1/2 MILE IN THE
HEAVY RAIN AND PONDING OF WATER IN LOWLYING AREAS AND ROADWAYS IS
LIKELY. MOTORISTS SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION IN TRAVEL AND REMEMBER
TO NOT DRIVE THROUGH RUSHING WATER.

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER EXTREME NORTHWEST MISSOURI
IN THE MARYVILLE AREA. THIS AREA IS BEING WATCHED VERY CLOSELY FOR
THE POTENTIAL OF FLASH FLOODING. PERSONS ALONG THE 102 RIVER SHOULD
BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND AS REPORTS OF WATER OVER ROADWAYS
HAS BEEN REPORTED IN NODAWAY AND NORTHERN ANDREWS COUNTIES. AT
245 PM THE RIVER GAGE AT MARYVILLE READ 12.43 WITH FLOOD STAGE AT
14 FEET.

THE 102 RIVER HAS BEEN RUNNING AT BANK FULL AT ARKOE MISSOURI...
ABOUT 60 MILES NORTH OF KANSAS CITY SINCE 110PM. THERE HAVE BEEN
REPORTS OF SCHOOL CLOSINGS IN NORTHERN ANDREWS COUNTY DUE TO
HIGH WATER HAMPERING BUS TRAVEL.

RAINFALL IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE OVER THE AREA OF NORTHWEST
MISSOURI...NORTHEAST KANSAS...AND SOUTHWEST IOWA FOR THE NEXT
SEVERAL HOURS. CONTINUE TO MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE
LATEST WEATHER UPDATES.

POOLE
Special weather statement, Sep 8, 3:38 PM CDT, 3 minutes before
RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE KANSAS CITY MO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
340 PM CDT SEP 8 1989

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHWEST MISSOURI TONIGHT
INCLUDING THE KANSAS CITY AND ST. JOSEPH AREAS...

AT 325 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS SOME WITH HEAVY RAIN WERE SCATTERED FROM
EASTERN KANSAS INTO NORTHWEST AND CENTRAL MISSOURI.  THUNDERSTORMS
WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE FROM JUST EAST OF TOPEKA KANSAS TO
20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LEAVENWORTH KANSAS TO 35 MILES EAST OF KANSAS
CITY MISSOURI.

OTHER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER SOUTHEAST NEBRASKA AND
SOUTHWEST IOWA.

THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES
AN HOUR.

AMIS

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Missouri, 1989Flash Flood Warnings in Kansas, 1989Every flash flood warning in 1989

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.