Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 49, NWS Wichita, KS

May 17, 1997Saline County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 1997, 5:07 PM CDT for Saline County, Kansas. It was in force for 63 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: May 17, 1997, 5:07 PM CDT (22:07 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 1997, 6:10 PM CDT
In force: 63 min
Issued by: NWS Wichita, KS
Area: Whole counties

County Saline County, KS

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where
May 17, 5:22 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Gypsum, KS
May 17, 5:24 PM CDT	Hail 1	Salina Arpt, KS
May 17, 5:27 PM CDT	Hail 1.5	Salina Arpt, KS
May 17, 5:28 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Salina, 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 17, 3:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 10.1 hours before the alert went out and 176 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 107 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -414 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1336 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 255 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 258 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: -0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

137 
WUUS1 KICT 172209 RRA
SVRICT
KSC169-172310-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
507 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  SALINE COUNTY - CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 610 PM CDT
 
* SOME TOWNS AFFECTED
    ASSARIA
    GYPSUM

* AT 507 PM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR ASSARIA OR
  10 MILES SOUTH OF SALINA MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM...BE PREPARED FOR WINDS IN
EXCESS OF 55 MPH AND HAIL UP TO ONE INCH IN DIAMETER.  IF YOU ARE
CAUGHT OUTSIDE...MOVE TO AN INDOOR SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.


CHANCE

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 17, 4:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Ellsworth	62 min
May 17, 4:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	McPherson	60 min
May 17, 6:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Harvey	66 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kansas, 1997 Every severe thunderstorm 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.