Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 2, NWS Topeka, KS
NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at May 9, 1996, 7:46 PM CDT for Cloud County, Washington County, Kansas. It was in force for 29 min. 5 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
- May 9, 1996, 7:46 PM CDT (00:46 UTC)
- Expired
- May 9, 1996, 8:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 29 min
- Issued by
- NWS Topeka, KS
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Cloud County, KS, Washington County, KS
The radar
The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 119 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:47 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 9, 8:04 PM CDT | Hail 2.75 | Concordia, KS | |
| May 9, 8:08 PM CDT | Hail 4.5 | Concordia, KS | |
| May 9, 8:10 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Hanover, KS | |
| May 9, 8:13 PM CDT | Hail 2.75 | Aurora, KS | |
| May 9, 8:14 PM CDT | Hail 4.5 | Concordia, 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, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 164 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2240 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -78 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1083 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 178 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 239 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.5
- Supercell composite
- 9.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KTOP 100047 TORTOP KSC201-100115- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 746 PM CDT THU MAY 9 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 815 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS ...NORTHERN WASHINGTON COUNTY AT...745 PM DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 35 MILES NORTHEAST OF CONCORDIA...NEAR HOLLENBURG. THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING THIS POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. PEOPLE IN HOLLENBURG...WASHINGTON...AND HANOVER SHOULD TAKE COVER!!! THIS REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR NORTHERN WASHINGTION COUNTY. ABANDON MOBILE HOMES! GO IN A NEARBY STURDY BUILDING! AS A LAST RESORT LIE FLAT IN A DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD! WALAWENDER
1 follow-up statement
000 TTAA00 KTOP 100047 RRA TORTOP KSC029-100115- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 746 PM CDT THU MAY 9 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 815 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS ...NORTHERN CLOUD COUNTY AT 745 PM...RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO JUST SOUTHWEST OF CONCORDIA. THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL MOVE THROUGH THE CONCORDIA...YUMA AND HOLLIS AREAS BY 815 PM. 5/8 INCH HAIL WAS REPORTED AT THE CONCORDIA AIRPORT. GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR! ABANDON MOBILE HOMES! GO IN A NEARBY STURDY BUILDING! AS A LAST RESORT LIE FLAT IN A DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD! &
The office that day
Everything else NWS Topeka, KS issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 9, 7:18 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TOP | Cloud, Republic | 42 min |
| May 9, 7:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | Washington | 41 min |
| May 9, 7:38 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | Republic | 37 min |
| May 9, 8:06 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TOP | Clay | 54 min |
| May 9, 8:12 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TOP | Marshall, Washington | 48 min |
| May 9, 8:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | Washington | 47 min |
| May 9, 8:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | Cloud | 37 min |
| May 9, 8:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | Clay, Ottawa | 47 min |
| May 9, 8:53 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TOP | Marshall | 52 min |
| May 9, 8:58 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TOP | Clay, Washington | 47 min |
| May 9, 9:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | Nemaha | 67 min |
| May 9, 9:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | Riley | 43 min |
| May 9, 10:44 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TOP | Marshall | 31 min |
| May 9, 10:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | Brown, Nemaha | 38 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.