Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Topeka, KS

June 5, 1996Douglas County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at Jun 5, 1996, 10:01 PM CDT for Douglas County, Kansas. It was in force for 44 min. 4 reports 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
Jun 5, 1996, 10:01 PM CDT (03:01 UTC)
Expired
Jun 5, 1996, 10:45 PM CDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Douglas County, KS

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:02 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
Jun 5, 10:30 PM CDTHail 1.75Eudora, KS
Jun 5, 10:38 PM CDTHail 0.75Lawrence, KS
Jun 5, 10:54 PM CDTHail 1.25Lawrence, KS
Jun 5, 10:54 PM CDTHail 1.25Lawrence, 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, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 33 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 1996-06-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3130 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 1996-06-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 167 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
3130 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
975 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
167 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
401 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
5.1
Supercell composite
18.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTOP 060301
TORTOP
KSC045-060345-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1001 PM CDT WED JUN 5 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1045 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL KANSAS
 
   ...EASTERN DOUGLAS COUNTY
 
AT 958 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO LOCATED 10
MILES NORTH OF LAWRENCE...OR JUST NORTH OF THE TOWN VOF MIDLAND.
 
THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE SOUTH AT 20 MPH...AND MIDLAND AND LAWRENCE
ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM.
 
GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR!
 
DDN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 5, 7:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPJackson, Nemaha25 min
Jun 5, 7:27 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPJackson33 min
Jun 5, 8:16 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPJefferson29 min
Jun 5, 8:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPBrown49 min
Jun 5, 8:48 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPJefferson27 min
Jun 5, 9:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPJefferson40 min
Jun 5, 9:38 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPJefferson4 hr
Jun 5, 9:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPJefferson39 min
Jun 5, 10:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPJackson40 min
Jun 5, 10:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPJefferson33 min
Jun 5, 10:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDouglas47 min
Jun 5, 10:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPShawnee43 min
Jun 5, 10:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPFranklin57 min
Jun 5, 11:01 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPDouglas, Jefferson3 hr
Jun 5, 11:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPShawnee39 min
Jun 5, 11:28 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPShawnee3 hr
Jun 5, 11:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDouglas, Osage, Shawnee45 min
Jun 6, 12:09 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPOsage36 min
Jun 6, 12:29 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPNemaha46 min
Jun 6, 12:40 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPLyon, Osage, Wabaunsee35 min
Jun 6, 1:01 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPOsage44 min
Jun 6, 1:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPJackson37 min
Jun 6, 1:59 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPDouglas, Franklin, Jefferson, Shawnee4 hr
Jun 6, 2:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPJefferson, Shawnee45 min
Jun 6, 3:57 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPClay, Ottawa48 min
Jun 6, 4:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDickinson, Geary45 min
Jun 6, 5:12 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPRiley33 min
Jun 6, 5:33 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPWabaunsee42 min
Jun 6, 6:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPCloud, Ottawa46 min
Jun 6, 6:31 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPDouglas, Jefferson, Shawnee3 hr
Jun 6, 7:02 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDickinson, Ottawa58 min
Jun 6, 7:46 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPGeary, Wabaunsee3 hr

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.