Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 45, NWS Topeka, KS

May 15, 1990Pottawatomie County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 15, 1990, 12:07 AM CDT for Pottawatomie County, Kansas. It was in force for 53 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 15, 1990, 12:07 AM CDT (05:07 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 1990, 1:00 AM CDT
In force
53 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Pottawatomie 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 15, 12:17 AM CDTHail 0.75Pottawatomie, 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, 5.1 hours before the alert went out and 74 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 1990-05-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 806 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 1990-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 92 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
806 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-149 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
863 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
92 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
123 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
3.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTOP 150512
SVRTOP
KSC149-150600-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1207 AM CDT TUE MAY 15 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  100 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHEAST KANSAS
          ...POTTAWATOMIE
 
AT 1205 AM CDT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY RADAR AROUND 10
MILES NORTHEAST OF MANHATTAN MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AROUND 25 MPH.
THIS STORM WILL EFFECT THE CITIES OF WESTMORELAND AND WAMEGO.
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY... SO
DON'T DRIVE ONTO WATER-COVERED ROADS.

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 14, 10:21 PM CDT, 1 hour 46 minutes before
KSZ007-008-010-011-150420-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
1020 PM CDT MON MAY 14 1990

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 232 IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF CENTRAL
KANSAS EXCEPT RUSSELL AND BARTON COUNTIES AND FOR OTTAWA COUNTY OF NORTH
CENTRAL KANSAS UNTIL 3 AM CDT.

AT 1020 PM A LIGHT SHOWER WAS 20 MILES SOUTH OF SALINA NEAR BRIDGEPORT.
THE SHOWER WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS AND WERE MOVING NORTH
NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

PERSONS IN CENTRAL KANSAS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND TAKE NECESSARY
PRECAUTIONS SHOULD THREATENING WEATHER APPROACH YOUR AREA.

PHILLIPS
Special weather statement, May 14, 11:19 PM CDT, 48 minutes before
KSZ007-008-010-011-150520-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
1119 PM CDT MON MAY 14 1990

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 232 IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF CENTRAL
KANSAS EXCEPT RUSSELL AND BARTON COUNTIES AND FOR OTTAWA COUNTY OF NORTH
CENTRAL KANSAS UNTIL 3 AM CDT.

AT 1117 PM A NEWLY DEVELOPED THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING MODERATE RAIN AND
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING WAS 15 MILES SOUTHEAST OF SALINA NEAR GYPSUM.  THE
THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS AND WERE MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

PERSONS IN CENTRAL KANSAS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND TAKE NECESSARY
PRECAUTIONS SHOULD THREATENING WEATHER APPROACH YOUR AREA.

PHILLIPS
Special weather statement, May 14, 11:47 PM CDT, 20 minutes before
KSZ007-008-010-011-150540-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
1145 PM CDT MON MAY 14 1990

SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 232 IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF CENTRAL
KANSAS EXCEPT RUSSELL AND BARTON COUNTIES AND FOR OTTAWA COUNTY OF NORTH
CENTRAL KANSAS UNTIL 3 AM CDT.

AT 1143 PM A THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN DANGEROUS LIGHTNING
GUSTY WINDS AND POSSIBLE HAIL WAS 12 MILES EAST OF SALINA.  THE
THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH AND WILL MOVE TO NEAR
SOLOMON BY 1210 AM CDT TUESDAY.

OTHER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING RAPIDLY IN A 25 MILE
WIDE AREA FROM TOPEKA TO 30 MILES WEST OF SALINA NEAR ELLSWORTH.
THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

PERSONS IN CENTRAL KANSAS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND TAKE NECESSARY
PRECAUTIONS SHOULD THREATENING WEATHER APPROACH YOUR AREA.

PHILLIPS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 12:17 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDickinson58 min
May 15, 1:29 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPBarton, Russell46 min
May 15, 4:54 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPRice34 min
May 15, 4:54 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMcPherson43 min
May 15, 7:28 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPOsage3 hr
May 15, 7:28 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPLyon119 min
May 15, 7:48 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPDouglas99 min
May 15, 8:05 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPClay, Cloud, Washington4 hr
May 15, 8:05 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPRepublic4 hr
May 15, 8:48 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPNemaha, Pottawatomie39 min
May 15, 12:19 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPDouglas, Osage3 hr
May 15, 12:38 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPFranklin2 hr
May 15, 5:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDickinson34 min
May 15, 5:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPJackson41 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kansas, 1990Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1990

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.