Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 50, NWS Wichita, KS

May 17, 1997Harvey County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 1997, 6:59 PM CDT for Harvey County, Kansas. It was in force for 66 min. 1 report 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, 6:59 PM CDT (23:59 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 1997, 8:05 PM CDT
In force: 66 min
Issued by: NWS Wichita, KS
Area: Whole counties

County Harvey County, KS

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 43 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:01 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 17, 7:27 PM CDT	Hail 1.5	Hesston, 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, 12.0 hours before the alert went out and 188 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.

703 
WUUS1 KICT 180000 RRA
SVRICT
KSC079-180105-

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

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  NORTHERN HARVEY COUNTY - SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 805 PM CDT
 
* SOME TOWNS AFFECTED
    HESSTON
    WALTON

* AT 655 PM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR MOUNDRIDGE
  OR 12 MILES SOUTHEAST OF MCPHERSON MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 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

What forecasters said that day

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

NWS Wichita, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 17, 3:31 PM CDT, 3 hours 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 17, 3:31 PM CDT, 3 hours 28 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVCE WICHITA KS
330 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 1997

...SHORT TERM...
OBVIOUS CONCERN IN SHORT TERM IS CHC FOR TSRA. 18Z SFC MAP INDICATES
AN E-W BOUNDARY FROM NW TO NC KANSAS...WITH N-S TROF ACROSS WESTERN
KANSAS. VERY JUICY AIR IN PLACE WITH DWPTS INTO THE MID 60S IN SC/SE
ZONES. ONLY THING LACKING IS A TRIGGER...AND WATER VAPOR SAT
PIX/PROFILERS DO SHOW A WEAK SHORTWAVE ACROSS W NE/W KANSAS WHICH
MODELS AGREE ON SHIFTING EAST ACROSS NC/NE KANSAS THIS EVENING. ETA
IS A TOUCH SLOW WITH THIS FEATURE. THIS SHORTWAVE SHOULD BE ENOUGH
TO ELIMINATE CAP AND TRIGGER SCT TSRA IN CENTRAL KANSAS.  LOW LEVEL
BOUNDARIES/UPPER SUPPORT REMAIN NORTH OF SC/SE ZONES...BUT WITH LOBE
OF UPPER VORT PASSING THROUGH SC KANSAS WILL LEAVE MENTION OF SCT
TSRA HERE. IN SE KANSAS...HOWEVER...ANY VORT LOBE THAT PASSES
THROUGH HERE WILL BE WELL AFTER SUNSET...THUS WILL LEAVE DRY
FORECAST IN PLACE HERE.

WILL HAVE TO KEEP CLOSE WATCH ON TSRA DEVELOPMENT IN CNTRL/SC KANSAS
AS ADAP INDICATES LI/S FROM -8 TO -10 AND MODIFIED SOUNDINGS SHOW
CAPES APPROACHING 4000 J/KG. WITH WBZ VALUES BLO 9000 FT...LARGE
HAIL APPEARS TO BE THE BIGGEST SVR THREAT. AS FOR TEMPS...LOW LEVEL
MOISTURE AXIS REMAINS IN PLACE AND WITH TIGHTENING PRES GRADIENT
A WARM AND MUGGY NIGHT IS ON TAP AND WARMER FWC NUMBERS WILL BE THE
WAY TO GO.

HYSELL

...LONG TERM...
CDFNT CRSG NRN MT PROGD BY ALL MDLS TO SWEEP SE ACRS C PLNS RCHG ABT
A TOP-HUT-DDC LN ARND 18Z. FNT TO COLLIDE W/ DPNG MSTR LYR THRU H85
WHR DWPTS TO INCR TO 10-14C RANGE & KI'S OF >40 BY THAT TM. POPS TO
BE HIT HARDEST THESE SXNS W/ "LKLY" IN ORDER...SPCLY W/ FRLY WK H7
S/W CRSG RGN INDUCING ADT'L UVV'S OVR ERN 1/3 ST. TEMPS TO GET FRLY
WM START SC & SE SXNS AS & SUCH WL STICK W/ MID 80S ACRS SC & SE KS
& SLGTLY UNDERCUT FAN BY ABT 1 CAT C SXN WHR RESPONDANT NRLY COMP TO
PUT CLAMPS ON TEMP INCR. WL CONT LKLY/CAT POPS ACRS SC & SE SXNS SUN
NGT AS ABNDNT MSTR RMNS IN PLACE ACRS THESE SXNS & LKLY POPS C SXN
AS WRAP-ARND SHRA TO OVRSPRD THIS SXN. MRKD TGTNG OF SW/W GRAD WAR-
RANTS INCRSG WNDS SUN MRNG ACRS THE BOARD. GRAD SLACKENS C SXN & WL
WORD ACRDGLY. MUCH COOLER WX PICTURED MST SXNS MON...SPCLY C SXN...
AS H85 TEMPS PLUNGE SOME 15C AS TGT H85 THRML GRAD INVADES CWA.
ES

RSL  061/080 048/058     04346
SLN  063/082 050/060     04346
HUT  063/087 053/067     04377
ICT  064/087 055/069 048 04377
CNU  066/088 058/073     04188

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, 5:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Saline	63 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.