Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 521

June 24, 199728 counties in Kansas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Jun 24, 1997, 10:00 PM CDT for 28 counties in Kansas. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jun 24, 1997, 10:00 PM CDT (03:00 UTC)
Expired: Jun 25, 1997, 3:00 AM CDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 28 counties

Barber County, KS, Barton County, KS, Brown County, KS, Chase County, KS, Clay County, KS, Dickinson County, KS, Ellsworth County, KS, Geary County, KS, Harvey County, KS, Jackson County, KS, Kingman County, KS, Lyon County, KS, Marion County, KS, McPherson County, KS, Morris County, KS, Nemaha County, KS, Osage County, KS, Ottawa County, KS, Pottawatomie County, KS, Pratt County, KS, Reno County, KS, Rice County, KS, Riley County, KS, Saline County, KS, Sedgwick County, KS, Shawnee County, KS, Stafford County, KS, Wabaunsee County, KS

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 94 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:01 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.

Warnings issued inside it

2 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 24, 10:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Ellsworth	63 min
Jun 24, 10:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Ottawa	60 min

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 186 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: 2814 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1246 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 61 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 119 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 3.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

624 
WWUS9 KMKC 250234
SEL1  
MKC WW 250234
KSZ000-250800-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 521
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
934 PM CDT TUE JUN 24 1997

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   CENTRAL AND EASTERN KANSAS                             

EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY NIGHT AND WEDNESDAY MORNING FROM 1000 PM
UNTIL 300 AM CDT.

HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 80
MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 60 STATUTE MILES
NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 40 MILES NORTHWEST OF MEDICINE LODGE
KANSAS TO 10 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF TOPEKA KANSAS.

REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE
FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 515...WW 516...WW
518...WW 519...WW 520...

DISCUSSION...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX CENTRAL KS WILL CONTINUE
DEVELOPING EASTWARD SUPPORTED BY LOW LEVEL JET OF 30-40 KTS AND
CONTINUED AVAILABLE OF VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS.


AVIATION...A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT
TO 2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 70
KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550.  MEAN STORM
MOTION VECTOR 27025.


...HALES

383,0990 400,0953 382,0953 365,0990

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 24, 7:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Cloud, Jewell, Lincoln, Marshall, Mitchell, Osborne and 5 more	6 hr
Jun 25, 5:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Cheyenne, Decatur, Gove, Graham, Logan, Norton and 6 more	5 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Kansas, 1997 Every severe thunderstorm watch 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.