Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 6, NWS Topeka, KS
NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at May 9, 1996, 8:58 PM CDT for Clay County, Washington County, Kansas. It was in force for 47 min. 3 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, 8:58 PM CDT (01:58 UTC)
- Expired
- May 9, 1996, 9:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 47 min
- Issued by
- NWS Topeka, KS
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Clay County, KS, Washington County, KS
The radar
The Topeka radar (KTWX), 100 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:00 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 | |
| May 9, 9:35 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Clay Center, 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, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 143 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 100200 TORTOP KSC027-201-100245- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 858 PM CDT THU MAY 9 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 945 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS ...NORTHERN CLAY COUNTY...SOUTHERN WASHINGTON COUNTY AT 855 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF CLAY CENTER. THE STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH. THE TOWNS OF CLIFTON...VINING...LINN...MORGANVILLE...GARFIELD CENTER... FACT AND PALMER ARE IN THE PATH OF THE STORM. MOVE TO TORNADO SHELTERS NOW! ...THE PREVIOUS TORNADO WARNING FOR NORTHEAST WASHINGTON COUNTY HAS EXPIRED.... 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 IN6 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, 8:06 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, 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.