Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 12, NWS Topeka, KS

May 16, 1995Lyon County, Wabaunsee County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at May 16, 1995, 7:57 PM CDT for Lyon County, Wabaunsee County, Kansas. It was in force for 33 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 16, 1995, 7:57 PM CDT (00:57 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 1995, 8:30 PM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

Counties Lyon County, KS, Wabaunsee County, KS

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 16, 8:15 PM CDTTornado F0Harveyville, KSA small weak tornado damaged some buildings, a barn and knocked down power poles and lines. Wheat and a few other crops were also damaged or destroyed.

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, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 57 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 1995-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 426 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 1995-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -35 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
426 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-256 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1533 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
58 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-35 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-5 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTOP 170058
TORTOP
KSC111-197-170130-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
757 PM CDT TUE MAY 16 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL KANSAS
 
   ...NORTHERN LYON COUNTY...SOUTHERN WABAUNSEE COUNTY
 
AT 755 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO LOCATED 25
MILES SOUTHEAST OF JUNCTION CITY...OR 10 MILES NORTH OF COUNCIL GROVE.
 
THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 30 MPH...AND THE CURRENT MOVEMENT
WILL TAKE IT SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 4...AND NORTH OF HIGHWAY 56...MAINLY
THROUGH OPEN COUNTRY.
 
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.
 
DDN

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 16, 4:57 PM CDT, 3 hours before
KSZ001>101-162300-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
456 PM CDT TUE MAY 16 1995

TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 407 HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR PART OF KANSAS.
THE WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...

...CENTRAL...
BARTON          ELLSWORTH       LINCOLN         RICE
RUSSELL

...SOUTH CENTRAL...
HARVEY          RENO            STAFFORD

THE FOLLOWING CITIES ARE NO LONGER INCLUDED IN THE TORNADO
WATCH...

GREAT BEND      HUTCHINSON      RUSSELL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 7:22 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPMorris53 min
May 16, 7:31 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPDickinson4 hr
May 16, 8:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDickinson, Geary55 min
May 16, 8:34 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPOsage26 min
May 16, 8:59 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPDouglas, Osage46 min
May 16, 9:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPOttawa53 min
May 16, 9:10 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPDickinson, Geary, Morris4 hr
May 16, 9:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPGeary40 min
May 16, 9:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPFranklin48 min
May 16, 9:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDickinson43 min
May 16, 9:39 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPDouglas, Osage, Shawnee4 hr
May 16, 9:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDouglas36 min
May 16, 10:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPLyon, Morris, Wabaunsee41 min
May 16, 11:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPOsage36 min
May 16, 11:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDouglas, Franklin32 min
May 17, 1:05 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPDickinson, Geary3 hr
May 17, 1:21 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPDouglas, Osage, Shawnee3 hr
May 17, 1:21 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPFranklin3 hr
May 17, 1:26 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPOttawa49 min
May 17, 1:46 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDickinson44 min
May 17, 1:57 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPOttawa48 min
May 17, 2:05 AM CDTTornado WarningTOPDickinson25 min
May 17, 2:19 AM CDTTornado WarningTOPGeary41 min
May 17, 2:46 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPClay44 min
May 17, 2:51 AM CDTTornado WarningTOPWabaunsee39 min
May 17, 2:54 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPWabaunsee3 hr
May 17, 3:12 AM CDTTornado WarningTOPShawnee34 min
May 17, 3:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDouglas, Jefferson37 min
May 17, 3:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMorris35 min
May 17, 3:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDickinson30 min
May 17, 3:59 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPDickinson, Geary4 hr
May 17, 4:09 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPDouglas, Franklin, Osage, Shawnee4 hr
May 17, 4:20 AM CDTTornado WarningTOPMorris28 min
May 17, 4:41 AM CDTTornado WarningTOPLyon37 min
May 17, 4:52 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPWabaunsee4 hr
May 17, 5:10 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPOsage36 min
May 17, 5:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPCoffey25 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1995Every tornado warning in 1995Tornadoes in 1995

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.