Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 43, NWS Topeka, KS

June 8, 1990Lyon County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at Jun 8, 1990, 7:29 PM CDT for Lyon County, Kansas. It was in force for 46 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 8, 1990, 7:29 PM CDT (00:29 UTC)
Expired
Jun 8, 1990, 8:15 PM CDT
In force
46 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 0.5 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 1990-06-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 5742 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 1990-06-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 54 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
5742 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-13 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
826 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
54 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
243 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
6.7
Supercell composite
28.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTOP 090033
TORTOP
KSC111-090115-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
729 PM CDT FRI JUN 8 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  815 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL KANSAS
          ...LYON
 
AT 726 PM A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND 4 MILES SOUTH OF
EMPORIA. MOVMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.
 
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.
 
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 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, Jun 8, 3:07 PM CDT, 4 hours 22 minutes before
KSZ013>016-082100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
305 PM CDT FRI JUN 8 1990

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR BROWN COUNTY EXPIRED AT 3PM CDT AND
WILL NOT BE EXTENDED. NO SEVERE STORM REPORTS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED SINCE
230PM. THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER EASTERN BROWN COUNTY AROUND 50 MILES
NORTH OF TOPEKA BUT THEY WERE WEAKENING AS THEY MOVED EAST AROUND 40 MPH.

A TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES FOR NORTHEAST KANSAS UNTIL 8PM CDT. THUNDERSTORMS
COULD DEVELOP RAPIDLY WITHIN THE WATCH AREA AND CITIZENS SHOULD BE ALERT
TO WEATHER CHANGES AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE QUICKLY TO A PLACE OF SAFETY
SHOULD THUNDERSTORMS THREATEN.

KAYS
Special weather statement, Jun 8, 3:54 PM CDT, 3 hours 35 minutes before
KSZ013>016-082200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
355 PM CDT FRI JUN 8 1990

A TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES FOR NORTHEAST KANSAS UNTIL 8PM CDT. NO
THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN NORTHEAST OR EASTCENTRAL KANSAS AT 350PM CDT.

HOWEVER THE ATMOSPHERE REMAINS VERY UNSTABLE AND THUNDERSTORMS COULD
DEVELOP RAPIDLY. CITIZENS SHOULD BE ALERT AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO
A PLACE OF SAFETY SHOULD THUNDERSTORMS THREATEN.

KAYS
Special weather statement, Jun 8, 6:12 PM CDT, 1 hour 17 minutes before
KSZ013>016-090000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
612 PM CDT FRI JUN 8 1990

...A TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 414 IS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF NORTHEAST AND
EAST CENTRAL KANSAS UNTIL 8 PM...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 422 IS IN EFFECT
FOR THE REMAINDER OF EAST CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST KANSAS UNTIL 11 PM...

AT 6 PM CDT 20 MILE WIDE BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED FROM 20
MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF TOPEKA NEAR OSAGE CITY...TO 25 MILES SOUTHEAST
OF EMPORIA...JUST SOUTHWEST OF BURLINGTON. THESE STORMS WERE OVER
MELVERN AND JOHN REDMOND RESERVOURS. PERSONS IN THE VICINITY OF THESE
STORMS CAN EXPECT VERY HEAVY RAINFALL...GUSTY WINDS...DEADLY LIGHTNING
..AND HAIL.

THESE STORMS WERE MOEVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL
AFFECT OTTAWA AND GARNETT BETWEEN 630 PM AND 730 PM THIS EVENING.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM 10 MILES NORTH OF TOPEKA...TO 15
MILES NORTHWEST OF ST JOSEPH MISSOURI.

MCNULTY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 8, 7:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDouglas, Jefferson, Shawnee47 min
Jun 8, 7:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPCoffey, Osage60 min
Jun 8, 7:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDouglas, Jefferson, Osage, Shawnee62 min
Jun 8, 7:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPCoffey62 min
Jun 8, 8:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPLyon, Osage45 min
Jun 8, 8:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDouglas, Franklin45 min
Jun 8, 9:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPLyon28 min
Jun 9, 1:39 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPCoffey4 hr

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.