Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS Topeka, KS

March 14, 1996Lyon County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 14, 1996, 6:15 AM CST for Lyon County, Kansas. It was in force for 60 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
Mar 14, 1996, 6:15 AM CST (12:15 UTC)
Expired
Mar 14, 1996, 7:15 AM CST
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Lyon County, KS

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 61 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:16 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 14, 6:58 AM CSTHail 1.5Americus, KS

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.

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 0.3 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 12:00Z on 1996-03-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 171 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 1996-03-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -9 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
171 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-281 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1177 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-9 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
81 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS1 KTOP 141215 RRA
SVRTOP
KSC111-141315-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
615 AM CST THU MAR 14 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL KANSAS
 
   ...NORTHERN LYON COUNTY
 
AT 612 AM CST DOPPLER RADAR INDICATES A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 20 MILES
NORTHWEST OF EMPORIA OR JUST EAST OF COUNCIL GROVE MOVING EAST AT 25
MPH. THIS STORM WILL MOVE TO NEAR AMERICUS AT 625 AM AND TO NEAR ADMIRE
BY 640 AM CST.
 
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM!  STAY INDOORS AWAY FROM WINDOWS!
 
THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF LARGE HAIL.  STAY INDOORS AWAY FROM
WINDOWS!
 
 
SW

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 14, 4:55 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDickinson, Morris65 min
Mar 14, 5:29 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDickinson31 min
Mar 14, 5:56 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMorris49 min
Mar 14, 7:10 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPCoffey, Lyon, Osage50 min
Mar 14, 7:11 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPCoffey, Lyon, Osage49 min
Mar 14, 7:41 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPCoffey, Osage49 min
Mar 14, 8:33 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPAnderson, Coffey42 min
Mar 14, 9:00 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPFranklin30 min
Mar 14, 12:19 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPLyon, Osage31 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kansas, 1996Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1996

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.