Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1993

Tornado Warning 47, NWS Topeka, KS

July 8, 1993Smith County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at Jul 8, 1993, 8:38 PM CDT for Smith County, Kansas. It was in force for 32 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 8, 1993, 8:38 PM CDT (01:38 UTC)
Expired
Jul 8, 1993, 9:10 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Smith County, KS

The nearest sounding before it

N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE (KLBF), launched 00:00Z, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 214 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, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 1993-07-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2676 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, N. Platte/Lee Bi, NE at 00:00Z on 1993-07-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -4 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
2676 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1139 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
46 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCNK 090139
TORCNK
KSC183-090230-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
838 PM CDT THU JUL 8 1993
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CONCORDIA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  930 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS
 
   ...NORTHERN SMITH COUNTY
 
AT 834 PM RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF SMITH
CENTER OR 25 MILES NORTHEAST PHILLIPSBURG. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST
NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. SMITH COUNTY SHERRIF REPORTED FUNNEL CLOUDS
WITH THIS STORM.
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND
DEADLY LIGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
 
PB

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, Jul 8, 8:15 PM CDT, 23 minutes before
KSZ007-008-010-011-090200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
815 PM CDT THU JUL 8 1993

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH #622 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 2 AM FOR CLAY...OSBORNE
   CLOUD...OTTAWA...SMITH...JEWELL...WASHINGTON...MITCHELL...REPUBLIC
   DICKINSON...RUSSELL...SALINE...ELLSWORTH AND LINCOLN COUNTIES...

AT 815 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS FROM CENTRAL NEBRASKA
INTO THE WESTERN MOST PARTS OF NORTHCENTRAL KANSAS JUST NORTH OF PHILLIPSBURG.
THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.

PERSONS ACROSS CENTRAL AND NORTHCENTRAL KANSAS SHOULD KEEP INFORMED ON THIS
WEATHER SITUATION AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS AS
THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA COULD QUICKLY BECOME SEVERE.

NOLES
Special weather statement, Jul 8, 8:15 PM CDT, 23 minutes before
KSZ007-008-010-011-090200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
815 PM CDT THU JUL 8 1993

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH #622 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 2 AM FOR CLAY...OSBORNE
   CLOUD...OTTAWA...SMITH...JEWELL...WASHINGTON...MITCHELL...REPUBLIC
   DICKINSON...RUSSELL...SALINE...ELLSWORTH AND LINCOLN COUNTIES...

AT 815 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS FROM CENTRAL NEBRASKA
INTO THE WESTERN MOST PARTS OF NORTHCENTRAL KANSAS JUST NORTH OF PHILLIPSBURG.
THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS IS MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH.

PERSONS ACROSS CENTRAL AND NORTHCENTRAL KANSAS SHOULD KEEP INFORMED ON THIS
WEATHER SITUATION AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS AS
THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP ACROSS THE AREA COULD QUICKLY BECOME SEVERE.

NOLES
Special weather statement, Jul 8, 8:29 PM CDT, 9 minutes before
KSZ013-014-015-016-080230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
830 PM CDT THU JUL 8 1993

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS POSTED FOR PART OF NORTHEAST KANSAS WEST
OF TOPEKA AND HIAWATHA. AT THE PRESENT TIME, NO SEVERE WEATHER IS
THREATENING NORTHEAST KANSAS. THE CLOSEST STORMS ARE
ALONG THE KANSAS/NEBRASKA BORDER NEAR PHILLIPSBURG. THESE STORMS WERE
MOVING EAST AROUND 50 MPH.

THE ATMOSPHERE IS VERY UNSTABLE AND THUNDERSTORMS COULD DEVELOP
INTO NORTHEAST KANSAS LATER TONIGHT. THEY MAY ALSO BECOME SEVERE AND
DROP VERY HEAVY RAIN.  THIS WOULD BE AFTER 1030PM CDT. A FLASH FLOOD
WATCH IS ALSO POSTED TONIGHT FOR PARTS OF NORTHEAST KANSAS ALONG AND NORTH
OF THE KANSAS RIV6ER.

KAYS

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 8, 9:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPJewell32 min
Jul 8, 10:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPOsborne45 min
Jul 8, 10:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPRussell21 min
Jul 9, 12:11 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMitchell25 min
Jul 9, 2:04 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPCloud3 hr
Jul 9, 2:49 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPBrown, Nemaha3 hr
Jul 9, 2:49 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPMarshall3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1993Every tornado warning in 1993Tornadoes in 1993

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.