Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Topeka, KS

May 22, 1996Washington County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at May 22, 1996, 11:08 PM CDT for Washington County, Kansas. It was in force for 52 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 22, 1996, 11:08 PM CDT (04:08 UTC)
Expired
May 23, 1996, 12:00 AM CDT
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Washington County, KS

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 114 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:12 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
May 22, 11:30 PM CDTHail 1.75Haddam, 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 00:00Z, 4.1 hours before the alert went out and 152 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 1996-05-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 472 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 1996-05-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 129 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
472 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-186 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1275 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
129 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
302 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTOP 230407
TORTOP
KSC201-230500-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1108 PM CDT WED MAY 22 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS
 
   ...SOUTHERN WASHINGTON COUNTY
 
AT 1105PM DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NORTHEAST OF
CONCORDIA JUST SOUTHEAST OF CUBA IN EASTERN REPUBLIC COUNTY. THE
WASHINGTON COUNTY SHERIFF REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD IN THIS SAME AREA. THE
TORNADO WAS MOVING EAST AROUND 20 MPH. THIS TORNADO WILL MOVE NEAR
BRANTFORD PALMER AND LINN BY MIDNIGHT.
 
THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS STORM. TAKE COVER NOW!\
 
A TORNADO WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 1130 PM FOR EASTERN REPUBLIC COUNTY.
 
A TORNADO WATCH ALSO CONTINUES FOR THESE COUNTIES UNTIL 5AM CDT.
 
 
GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR!
 
KAYS
 
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 22, 9:49 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPRepublic26 min
May 22, 10:16 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPRepublic44 min
May 22, 10:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPNemaha63 min
May 22, 10:57 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPRepublic33 min
May 22, 11:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPBrown41 min
May 22, 11:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPBrown, Jackson, Nemaha43 min
May 22, 11:41 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPRepublic49 min
May 22, 11:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPWashington33 min
May 23, 12:10 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPWashington50 min
May 23, 12:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMarshall40 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes 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.