Alert archive / Kansas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1997

Flash Flood Warning 2, NWS Topeka, KS

May 24, 1997Riley County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this flash flood warning at May 24, 1997, 12:37 AM CDT for Riley 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 24, 1997, 12:37 AM CDT (05:37 UTC)
Expired
May 24, 1997, 3:30 AM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Riley County, KS

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 55 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:39 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, 5.6 hours before the alert went out and 100 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 1997-05-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 136 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 1997-05-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 81 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTOP 240538
FFWTOP
KSC161-240830-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1237 AM CDT SAT MAY 24 1997

* FLASH FLOOD WARNING FOR
     NORTHERN RILEY COUNTY - NORTHEAST KANSAS

* UNTIL 330 AM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
     TUTTLE CREEK STATE PARK
     RANDOLPH
     MAY DAY
     LASITA

* CAUSE AND EFFECT
     THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING TORRENTIAL RAIN WILL CONTINUE TO
     MOVE ACROSS THE NORTHERN HALF OF RILEY COUNTY THROUGH 2 OR
     3 AM. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OVER 3 INCHES ARE LIKELY WITH SOME
     FLASH FLOODING LIKELY. CLAY COUNTY HAS REPORTED SOME FLASH
     FLOODING BETWEEN 1030 PM AND MIDNIGHT. BALDWIN AND MADISON
     CREEKS IN NORTHERN RILEY COUNTY WERE BEGINNING TO GO OVER
     THEIR BANKS AT 1230 AM.

* FORECAST CONDITIONS
     A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING INTO CENTRAL KANSAS WILL
     CONTINUE TO MOVE NORTHEASTWARD ACROSS NORTHERN RILEY
     COUNTY  WITH CELLS REPEATINGLY MOV,ING OVER THE SAME GENERAL
     AREAS.
 
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE THE
DANGER OF FLOODING.

DONT DRIVE ACROSS FLOODED ROADS!  MOST FLASH FLOOD DEATHS OCCUR IN
VEHICLES.

BARLOW

&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 23, 10:53 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPClay, Ottawa3 hr
May 24, 1:02 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningTOPPottawatomie2 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.