Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1993

Tornado Warning 55, NWS Topeka, KS

July 24, 1993Mitchell County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at Jul 24, 1993, 6:22 PM CDT for Mitchell County, Kansas. It was in force for 68 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 24, 1993, 6:22 PM CDT (23:22 UTC)
Expired
Jul 24, 1993, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
68 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Mitchell County, KS

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 226 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 1993-07-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2205 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 1993-07-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 474 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
2205 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-222 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1069 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
474 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
474 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCNK 242323
TORCNK
KSC123-250030-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
622 PM CDT SAT JUL 24 1993
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CONCORDIA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS
 
   ...MITCHELL COUNTY
 
AT 620 PM SPOTTERS REPORT A DEVELOPING TORNADO 45 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
CONCORDIA OR 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF TIPTON MOVING TO THE EAST AT 15 MPH.
THIS TORNADO WILL MOVE TO NEAR TIPTON BY 630 PM AND BE NEAR BELOIT BY 7
PM....TAKE COVER IMMEDATELY.....
 
 
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.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO
TO A STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A
TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.
 
 
WHITMORE

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 24, 5:14 PM CDT, 1 hour 8 minutes before
KSZ007-008-010-011-242315-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
514 PM CDT SAT JUL 24 1993

...THUNDERSTORMS BEGINNING TO DEVELOP OVER THE WESTERN PORTIONS OF NORTH
CENTRAL KANSAS...

AT 510 PM RADAR INDICATED NEWLY DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORMS SCATTERED ALONG THE
WESTERN BORDERS OF OSBORNE AND SMITH COUNTIES FROM NEAR NATOMA NORTHWARD TO
JUST SOUTHEAST OF KIRWIN. THESE THUNDERSTORMS AT 510 PM WERE ONLY PRODUCING
LIGHT RAIN AND SOME LIGHTNING...BUT SHOULD STRENGTHEN FURTHER THROUGH 6 PM
AS THEY MOVE TO THE NORTH-NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH ACROSS WESTERN OSBORNE AND
SMITH COUNTIES.

IF THREATENING  WEATHER APPROACHES...MOVE TO SAFE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY UNTIL
THE STORMS HAS PASSED AND LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER WEATHER
STATEMENTS AND UPDATES.

SW
Special weather statement, Jul 24, 5:15 PM CDT, 1 hour 7 minutes before
KSZ007-008-010-011-242315-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CONCORDIA KS
514 PM CDT SAT JUL 24 1993

...THUNDERSTORMS BEGINNING TO DEVELOP OVER THE WESTERN PORTIONS OF NORTH
CENTRAL KANSAS...

AT 510 PM RADAR INDICATED NEWLY DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORMS SCATTERED ALONG THE
WESTERN BORDERS OF OSBORNE AND SMITH COUNTIES FROM NEAR NATOMA NORTHWARD TO
JUST SOUTHEAST OF KIRWIN. THESE THUNDERSTORMS AT 510 PM WERE ONLY PRODUCING
LIGHT RAIN AND SOME LIGHTNING...BUT SHOULD STRENGTHEN FURTHER THROUGH 6 PM
AS THEY MOVE TO THE NORTH-NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH ACROSS WESTERN OSBORNE AND
SMITH COUNTIES.

IF THREATENING  WEATHER APPROACHES...MOVE TO SAFE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY UNTIL
THE STORMS HAS PASSED AND LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER WEATHER
STATEMENTS AND UPDATES.

SW
Special weather statement, Jul 24, 6:09 PM CDT, 13 minutes before
KSZ013-014-015-016-250015-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
609 PM CDT SAT JUL 24 1993

...A TORNADO WATCH IS POSTED UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR PORTIONS OF
NORTHEAST KANSAS...

AT 605 PM CDT NO THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER NORTHEAST KANSAS.

THE ATMOSPHERE HOWEVER REMAINS QUITE UNSTABLE AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE
DEVELOPING ACROSS PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS.  A TORNADO
WATCH IS POSTED UNTIL MIDNIGHT FOR MAINLY THAT PORTION OF NORTHEAST
KANSAS WEST OF LINE FROM THE NEBRASKA BORDER 25 MILES NORTHEAST OF
MARYSVILLE...TO MANHATTAN...TO JUNCTION CITY.

PERSONS IN NORTHEAST KANSAS...ESPECIALLY THOSE IN THE WATCH AREA
SHOULD BE ALERT FOR THREATENING WEATHER DEVELOPING DURIPNG THE EVENING
AND HAVE A PLAN FOR SEEKING SHELTER SHOULD A WARNING BE ISSUED OR
SEVERE WEATHER APPROACHES.

FRANTZ

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 23, 8:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPBrown, Nemaha68 min
Jul 23, 9:58 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPBrown, Nemaha32 min
Jul 23, 10:21 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPBrown3 hr
Jul 23, 10:30 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPBrown30 min
Jul 24, 3:17 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPSmith58 min
Jul 24, 5:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPOsborne, Smith60 min
Jul 24, 6:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPRepublic28 min

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.