Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 26, NWS Topeka, KS

May 5, 1990Douglas County, Osage County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at May 5, 1990, 2:30 PM CDT for Douglas County, Osage County, Kansas. It was in force for 30 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 5, 1990, 2:30 PM CDT (19:30 UTC)
Expired
May 5, 1990, 3:00 PM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

Counties Douglas County, KS, Osage 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 5, 2:30 PM CDTTornado F0Osage, 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, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 28 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 1990-05-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1990-05-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 174 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1224 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
174 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
207 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 KTOP 051932
TORTOP
KSC045-139-052000-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
230 PM CDT SAT MAY 5 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  300 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL KANSAS
          ...SOUTHWESTERN DOUGLAS...NORTHEASTERN OSAGE
 
AT 229 PM CDT THE PUBLIC REPORTS A TORNADO ABOUT 5 MILES WEST OF
OVERBROOK... OR ABOUT 20 MILES SOUTH OF TOPEKA.
 
THIS TORNADO WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST. THE TOWN OF RICHLAND IN
SOUTHWEST DOUGLAS COUNTY IS IN DANGER.
MA
 
THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS STORM.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE IN THE
PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF AVAILABLE.
OTHERWISE... GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A
STURDIER BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

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 5, 2:30 PM CDT, 0 minutes before
KSZ007-008-010-011-032100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
229 PM CDT SAT MAY 5 1990

AT 220 PM CDT THUNDERSTORMS CONTAINING BRIEF HEAVY RAIN SMALL HAIL AND
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING WERE LOCATED 30 MILES NORTH OF CONCORDIA NEAR CHESTER
IN NEBRASKA, 20 MILES NORTHEAST OF PHILLIPSBURG NEAR FRANKLIN NEBRASKA,
AND 50 MILES WEST OF SALINA NEAR LUCAS IN RUSSELL COUNTY.  THESE
THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH AND WILL BE MOVING ACROSS PORTIONS
OF NORTHERN SMITH AND REPUBLIC COUNTIES BY 330 PM.  ADDITIONALLY THE
THUNDERSTORM IN RUSSELL COUNTY WILL BE MOVING TO NEAR SLYVAN GROVE IN
LINCOLN COUNTY BY 330 PM.

KLEYLA

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1990Every tornado warning in 1990Tornadoes 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.