Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Topeka, KS

May 12, 1995Geary County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at May 12, 1995, 9:46 PM CDT for Geary County, Kansas. It was in force for 44 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 12, 1995, 9:46 PM CDT (02:46 UTC)
Expired
May 12, 1995, 10:30 PM CDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Geary County, KS

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 96 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 1995-05-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 32 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 1995-05-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 337 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
32 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-153 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
629 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
66 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
337 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
491 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 130245
TORTOP
KSC061-130330-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
946 PM CDT FRI MAY 12 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL KANSAS
 
   ...GEARY COUNTY
 
AT 945 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO LOCATED 5 MILES
WEST OF JUCTION CITY.
 
THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 30 MPH.  JUNCTION CITY...FORT
RILEY...AND THE SOUTHERN END OF MILFORD RESERVOIR ARE ALL IN THE PATH OF
THIS STORM.
 
THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING VERY LARGE HAIL AND FUNNEL
CLOUDS...AND IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS STORM
 
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
 
 
 
&

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 12, 4:06 PM CDT, 5 hours 40 minutes before
KSZ008>012-020>024-026-034>040-054>056-058-059-130400-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTHEAST AND NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
405PM CDT FRI MAY 12 1995

THIS OUTLOOK PERTAINS TO THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN NORTH CENTRAL AND
NORTHEAST KANSAS:

ANDERSON     DOUGLAS      JEFFERSON     NEMAHA          SHAWNEE
FRANKLIN     LYON         OSAGE         WABAUNSEE       CLOUD
BROWN        GEARY        MARSHALL      POTTAWATOMIE    CLAY
COFFEY       JACKSON      MORRIS        RILEY           OTTAWA
DICKINSON    REPUBLIC     WASHINGTON

SYNOPSIS...A STRONG LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IN NORTHEAST COLORADO WILL
MOVE NORTHEAST ACROSS NEBRASKA TONIGHT. THE LOW WILL TRIGGER A WIDE
AREA OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. SOME OF THE STORMS MAY PRODUCE TORNADOES.

A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN POSTED UNTIL 10PM FOR PARTS OF NORTHCENTRAL
KANSAS. SEVERE STORMS WILL LIKELY MOVE INTO NORTHCENTRAL KANSAS AFTER
6PM THIS EVENING.  OVER NORTHEAST KANSAS...SEVERE STORMS ARE LIKELY
AFTER 8 OR 9PM. THE STORMS MAY CONTINUE AFTER MIDNIGHT.

SINCE SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE
SEVERE WEATHER...SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY TONIGHT.

STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR LATER INFORMATION AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

AKULOW

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 12, 8:07 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPOttawa68 min
May 12, 9:11 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPOttawa25 min
May 12, 9:11 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPDickinson44 min
May 12, 9:11 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPClay64 min
May 12, 10:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPRiley52 min
May 12, 10:30 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPWabaunsee45 min
May 12, 11:11 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPJackson, Pottawatomie, Shawnee49 min
May 12, 11:11 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPWabaunsee49 min
May 12, 11:19 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPRepublic, Washington41 min
May 13, 12:34 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPClay23 min
May 13, 1:49 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPCloud, Republic26 min
May 13, 2:18 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPWashington27 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.