Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 35, NWS Topeka, KS

May 16, 1997Pottawatomie County, Riley County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 16, 1997, 6:42 PM CDT for Pottawatomie County, Riley County, Kansas. It was in force for 43 min. 4 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 16, 1997, 6:42 PM CDT (23:42 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 1997, 7:25 PM CDT
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

Counties Pottawatomie County, KS, Riley County, KS

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 16, 7:10 PM CDTHail 0.75Westmoreland, KS
May 16, 7:13 PM CDTHail 1Manhattan, KS
May 16, 7:30 PM CDTHail 0.75Westmoreland, KS
May 16, 7:30 PM CDTHail 1Manhattan, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 16, 3:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 86 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 12:00Z on 1997-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 1997-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 68 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1688 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
68 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
202 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTOP 162343 RRA
SVRTOP
KSC149-161-170025-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
642 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
     NORTHWESTERN POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY - NORTHEAST KANSAS
     NORTHEASTERN RILEY COUNTY - NORTHEAST KANSAS

* UNTIL 725 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
     RURAL AREAS OF NORTHEAST RILEY COUNTY
     OLSBURG
     FOSTORIA
     BLAIN
     WESTMORELAND

* AT 635 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 15 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF MARYSVILLE OR SOUTH OF BLUE RAPIDS MOVING SOUTHEAST
  ABOUT 20 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR
     RURAL AREAS OF NORTHEAST RILEY COUNTY BETWEEN 645 AND 7 PM
     BETWEEN OLSB>URG AND BLAINE BETWEEN 7 AND 715 PM
     WESTMORELAND AROUND 720 PM

* REPORTS
     LARGE HAIL ACROSS WESTERN MARSHALL COUNTY
 
DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE LIKELY.  GO INSIDE A STURDY
BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS!

/PF

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

Local storm report, May 16, 6:14 PM CDT, 28 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KANSAS
614 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0558 PM    6 N BENNINGTON            KS   .75 INCH HAIL
05/16/97   OTTAWA
Local storm report, May 16, 6:16 PM CDT, 26 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KANSAS
614 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0558 PM    6 N BENNINGTON            KS   .75 INCH HAIL
05/16/97   OTTAWA
Local storm report, May 16, 6:17 PM CDT, 25 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KANSAS
617 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0616 PM    2 W BLUE RAPIDS           KS   1 INCH HAIL
05/16/97   MARSHALL
Local storm report, May 16, 6:19 PM CDT, 23 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KANSAS
617 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0616 PM    2 W BLUE RAPIDS           KS   1 INCH HAIL
05/16/97   MARSHALL
Local storm report, May 16, 6:34 PM CDT, 8 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
634 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0634 PM    6 S BLUE RAPIDS           KS   1 INCH HAIL
05/16/97   MARSHALL
Local storm report, May 16, 6:36 PM CDT, 6 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
634 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0634 PM(    6 S BLUE RAPIDS           KS   1 INCH HAIL
05/16/97   MARSHALL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 4:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPCloud59 min
May 16, 4:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPOttawa38 min
May 16, 4:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPOttawa47 min
May 16, 5:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPOttawa45 min
May 16, 5:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMarshall63 min
May 16, 5:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPOttawa48 min
May 16, 6:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMarshall33 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kansas, 1997Every 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.