Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 3, NWS Topeka, KS
NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at May 9, 1996, 8:06 PM CDT for Clay County, Kansas. It was in force for 54 min. 2 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, 8:06 PM CDT (01:06 UTC)
- Expired
- May 9, 1996, 9:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 54 min
- Issued by
- NWS Topeka, KS
- Area
- Whole counties
County Clay County, KS
The radar
The Topeka radar (KTWX), 89 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:08 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, 8:58 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Morganville, KS | |
| May 9, 9:00 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Morganville, 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, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 137 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 100108 TORTOP KSC027-100200- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 806 PM CDT THU MAY 9 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 900 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS ...NORTHERN CLAY COUNTY AT 807 PM...DOPPLER RADAR CONTINUES TO INDICATE A TORNADO 20 MILES WEST OF CLAY CENTER NEAR AURORA. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH AND WILL ENTER CLAY COUNTY BY 825 PM AND SHOULD APPROACH CLAY CENTER BY 850 PM. OTHER TOWNS IN THE PATH ARE MORGANVILLE...IDANA AND BROWNDALE. BASEBALL SIZE HAIL HAS BEEN REPORTED WITH THIS STORM NEAR CONCORDIA. GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR! IF YOU ARE IN A CAR...GO IN A NEARBY STURDY BUILDING! AS A LAST RESORT LIE FLAT IN A DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD. 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, 7:46 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TOP | Cloud, Washington | 29 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.