Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 19, NWS Topeka, KS

May 7, 1997Ottawa County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 7, 1997, 4:20 PM CDT for Ottawa County, Kansas. It was in force for 50 min. 3 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 7, 1997, 4:20 PM CDT (21:20 UTC)
Expired: May 7, 1997, 5:10 PM CDT
In force: 50 min
Issued by: NWS Topeka, KS
Area: Whole counties

County Ottawa County, KS

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where
May 7, 4:23 PM CDT	Hail 1.25	Minneapolis, KS
May 7, 4:58 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 61	Bennington, KS
May 7, 5:06 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Bennington, 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 7, 2:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 174 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: 463 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -188 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 833 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 310 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 415 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 5.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTOP 072121 RRA
SVRTOP
KSC143-072210-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
420 PM CDT WED MAY 7 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
     OTTAWA COUNTY - NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 510 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
     MINNEAPOLIS
     WELLS
     BENNINGTON
     VINE CREEK

* AT 417 PM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 25 MILES SOUTH OF
  CONCORDIA NEAR MINNEAPOLIS MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR
     MINNEAPOLIS BY 430 PM
     WELLS BY 440 PM
     BENNINGTON BY 445 PM
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM!  STAY INDOORS AWAY FROM WINDOWS!

GDP/BW

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.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 7, 11:55 AM CDT, 4 hours 25 minutes before

KSZ008>012-020>024-026-034>040-054>056-058-059-072300-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1155 AM CDT WED MAY 7 1997

STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED ACROSS NORTH
CENTRAL...NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL KANSAS LATE THIS
AFTERNOON AND EVENING.

THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP FIRST FROM CONCORDIA TO
MANHATTAN AND HIAWATHA AROUND MID AFTERNOON AND THEN MOVE
SOUTHEAST THROUGH EAST CENTRAL KANSAS LATE IN THE AFTERNOON
THROUGH THE EVENING. SOME SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL
AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE LIKELY.

SYNOPSIS:  VERY WARM...MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIR IS IN PLACE OVER
THE CENTRAL PLAINS. A COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH CENTRAL
NEBRASKA AND WESTERN KANSAS AT NOON WILL BE MOVING INTO NORTH
CENTRAL KANSAS BY MID AFTERNOON AND IS EXPECTED TO TRIGGER THE
THUNDERSTORMS.

PB

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 7, 4:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Cloud, Republic	46 min
May 7, 4:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Clay, Riley	48 min
May 7, 4:58 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Ottawa	32 min
May 7, 5:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Nemaha	45 min
May 7, 5:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Marshall	31 min
May 7, 5:26 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Dickinson	44 min
May 7, 5:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Ottawa	34 min
May 7, 5:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Brown	48 min
May 7, 6:07 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Dickinson	48 min
May 7, 6:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Morris	47 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.