Alert archive / Kansas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 6, NWS Kansas City, MO

May 17, 1997Miami County, Kansas

NWS Kansas City, MO issued this flash flood warning at May 17, 1997, 9:45 PM CDT for Miami County, Kansas. It was in force for 4 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 17, 1997, 9:45 PM CDT (02:45 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1997, 2:00 AM CDT
In force
4 hr
Issued by
NWS Kansas City, MO
Area
Whole counties

County Miami County, KS

The radar

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 57 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:44 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 85 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 1997-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 647 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 1997-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 53 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
647 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-131 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2220 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
53 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
290 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
9.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMCI 180245
FFWMCI
KSC121-180650-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PLEASANT HILL/KANSAS CITY MO
945 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 1997

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR
    MIAMI COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL KANSAS
 
* UNTIL 2 AM CDT

* SOME STREAMS AND RIVERS AFFECTED
    STREAMS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY

* CAUSE AND EFFECT
THUNDERSTORMS HAVE PRODUCED 2 TO 4 INCHES OF RAIN ACROSS THE
COUNTY LEADING TO RAPID RISES ON STREAMS AND CREEKS. MANY ROADS
WERE UNDER WATER AND THE MIAMI COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE IS DISCOURAGING
TRAVEL ACROSS THE COUNTY.

* FORECAST CONDITIONS
THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH EASTERN SECTIONS OF THE
COUNTY THROUGH 1015 PM RESULTING IN ADDITIONAL FLASH FLOODINLG.

BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGER OF FLOODING.

BUNTING

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Kansas City, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before this flash flood warning went out at May 17, 2:46 PM CDT, 6 hours 59 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 17, 2:46 PM CDT, 6 hours 59 minutes before
NORTHWEST MISSOURI FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PLEASANT HILL/KANSAS CITY MO
245 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 1997

FAIRLY ACTIVE NEXT 36 HRS EXPECTED.  SVR WX THREAT IS FIRST AND
FOREMOST CONCERN.  FIRST SHORT WAVE TROF TO AFFECT FA NOW OVER NW KS
OR SO PER PROFILERS AND WV IMAGERY.  ETA MINORS THIS FEATURE OUT
SLIGHTLY TOWARD 00Z BUT STILL SEE ITS REFLECTION IN 700 & 500 HEIGHTS
BY 06Z WITH 700 VORT CENTERED OVER FAR NW MO.  CONSIDERABLE WAA
CLOUDINESS DVLPG AHD OF FEATURE IN CNTRL NEB/KS.  AT ANY RATE...DEPSITE
WK LOW LVL CONVERGENCE...LOOKS LIKE KS WAVE TO PROVIDE JUST ENUF UPWARD
FORCING TO OVERCOME EVER WEAKENING CAP.  QUICKIE MODIFIED 12Z TOP
SOUNDING USING 87/61 SFC PARCEL YIELDED AT LEAST 2000 J/KG CAPE AND
MINIMAL CAP.  THUS...EXPECTING TSRA TO FIRE PRIOR TO SUNSET WITH SVR A
PSBLTY.

BETTER SVR THREAT LOOKS TO BE TNGT AS MUCH STRONGER ALBERTA TROF DROPS
SE AND GENERATES NICE HEIGHT FALLS ACRS HI PLAINS.  ETA DVLPS 40KT
SWRLY LLJ IN RESPONSE BY MIDNIGHT WHICH BECOMES NEARLY PERPENDICULAR TO
DIFFUSE BUT CERTAIN BOUNDARY CURRENTLY LOCATED ROUGHLY FROM NCNTRL KS
TO SCNTRL MO (WITH ANOTHER BOUNDARY JUST SOUTH OF IA/MO BORDER). RESULT
IS PRETTY STRONG LIFT OF VERY UNSTALBE AIR OVER BOTH BOUNDARIES. ETA
QPF ALSO DEVELOPS CONVECTIVE PCPN ON NOSE OF LLJ IN ERN KS.
THEREFORE...EXPECT WILL GO ABV LOW GUIDANCE POPS...MAYBE INTO LIKELY
CATEGORY.  QUESTION WHETHER OR NOT TO MENTION SVR.  GET PRETTY GOOD
TURNING IN SUB-CLOUD LAYER TNGT...VERY UNSTABLE AIR IN PLACE AND LIFT
FROM SHORT WAVE PLUS HELP FROM BOUNDARY.  HOWEVER...MID-LEVEL WINDS
PRETTY WEAK SO ALTHO SHD BE ABLE TO GET UPDRAFTS SUSTAINED FOR A
REASONABLE AMOUNT OF TIME...TSRA SHOULD TRANSITION FAIRLY QUICKLY INTO
OUTFLOW DOMINATED CELLS.

JUST READ WELL-WRITTEN SWODY1 WITH UPGRADE FROM SLGT TO MDT RISK AND
THIS PUSHES ME OVER FENCE.  WILL MENTION SVR.

TMRW LOOKS TO BE ACTIVE AS WELL...PENDING LOCATION OF CONVECTIVE
BOUNDARIES OF TONIGHT.  UNLESS CONVECTIVE DEBRIS CLOUDS INHIBIT
HEATING...SHOULD WARM TO LEVELS VERY CLOSE OF THOSE TODAY (XCP POSSIBLY
IN THE NW WITH EARLIER FROPA) GIVEN FCST 850 MB TEMPS.  BELIEVE TSRA
SHD REFIRE FROM JUST SE OF MKC TO IRK LINE ALONG FRONT AND QUICKLY
BECOME SVR.  WILL HOLD OFF THOUGH ON MENTION OF 2ND PERIOD SVR GIVEN
QUESTION OF POSITION OF BOUNDARIES.  WILL ORIENT POPS FROM NW TO
SE...HIEST SE.  TEMPS WILL FOLLOW SIMILARLY.

PROXIMITY OF FRONT TO SERN ZONES WILL FORCE ME TO KEEP POPS IN FOR SUN
NIGHT...WHILE NW ZONES IN STG CAA WILL GO POP-FREE.

SPENT EXCEPTIONALLY LITTLE TIME LOOKING AT RETURN TO COOLER WX ON MON.
GUIDANCE TEMPS LOOK FINE.

MCI BB 065/085 054/066 044 99653

MANION

The office that day

Everything else NWS Kansas City, MO issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 7:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXMiami60 min
May 17, 7:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXJohnson60 min
May 17, 7:54 PM CDTTornado WarningEAXMiami36 min
May 17, 8:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXMiami45 min
May 17, 8:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXJohnson, Leavenworth, Wyandotte64 min
May 17, 9:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXMiami50 min
May 17, 9:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXLinn31 min
May 17, 10:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXLinn47 min
May 17, 10:32 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEAXLinn4 hr

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Kansas, 1997Every flash flood warning in 1997

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.