Alert archive / Kansas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997
Flash Flood Warning 1, NWS Topeka, KS
NWS Topeka, KS issued this flash flood warning at May 23, 1997, 10:53 PM CDT for Clay County, Ottawa County, Kansas. It was in force for 3 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 23, 1997, 10:53 PM CDT (03:53 UTC)
- Expired
- May 24, 1997, 1:45 AM CDT
- In force
- 3 hr
- Issued by
- NWS Topeka, KS
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Clay County, KS, Ottawa County, KS
The radar
The Topeka radar (KTWX), 105 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:56 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, 3.9 hours before the alert went out and 155 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
- 136 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -55 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1222 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 27 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 81 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 187 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KTOP 240353
FFWTOP
KSC027-143-240645-
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1053 PM CDT FRI MAY 23 1997
* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR
CLAY COUNTY - NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS
OTTAWA COUNTY - NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS
* UNTIL 145 AM CDT
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
MINNEAPOLIS
OAK HILL
CLAY CENTER
GREEN
* CAUSE AND EFFECT
THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINFALL CONTINUE TO
DEVELOP ALONG A 15 MILE WIDE BAND FROM TESCOTT TO OAK HILL
AND NORTHEAST INTO THE CLAY CENTER AND GREEN AREAS.
THUNDERSTORMS WERE PRODUCING TORRENTIAL RAINFALL. THIS WILL
OCCUR IN ADDITION TO AMOUNTS OF ONE TO THREE INCHES THAT
HAS ALREADY OCCURRED EARLIER THIS EVENING. THIS WILL CREATE
SIGNIFICANT FLOODING ACROSS MANY STREAMS...CREEKS AND
ROADWAYS ACROSS MUCH OF OTTAWA AND CLAY COUNTIES.
*FORECAST CONDITIONS
THUNDERSTORMS WILL GRADUALLY WEAKEN AFTER MIDNIGHT...
ALTHOUGH WATER LEVELS WILL CONTINUE TO RISE THROUGH
1 AM.
DONT DRIVE ACROSS FLOODED ROADS! MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN
VEHICLES.
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGER OF FLOODING.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.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 23, 9:46 PM CDT, 1 hour 7 minutes before
KSZ008-009-020-240350- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 946 PM CDT FRI MAY 23 1997 ...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR REPUBLIC... CLOUD AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS... AT 945 PM CDT...RADAR SHOWED THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE TO THE SOUTHEAST OF THESE COUNTIES. THE THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS NO LONGER EXITS FOR REPUBLIC...CLOUD AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTHEAST CLOUD COUNTY AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON COUNTY SHOULD END BY MIDNIGHT. BILLS
Special weather statement, May 23, 9:47 PM CDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before
KSZ008-009-020-240350- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 946 PM CDT FRI MAY 23 1997 ...THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR REPUBLIC... CLOUD AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS... AT 945 PM CDT...RADAR SHOWED THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE TO THE SOUTHEAST OF THESE COUNTIES. THE THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS NO LONGER EXITS FOR REPUBLIC...CLOUD AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES. SCATTERED THUNDERS TORMS IN SOUTHEAST CLOUD COUNTY AND SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON COUNTY SHOULD END BY MIDNIGHT. BILLS
The office that day
Everything else NWS Topeka, KS issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 24, 12:37 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | TOP | Riley | 3 hr |
| May 24, 1:02 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | TOP | Pottawatomie | 2 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.