Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 42, NWS Topeka, KS

May 16, 1997Brown County, Nemaha County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 16, 1997, 7:59 PM CDT for Brown County, Nemaha County, Kansas. It was in force for 61 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 16, 1997, 7:59 PM CDT (00:59 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 1997, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

Counties Brown County, KS, Nemaha County, KS

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 16, 8:35 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 61Morrill, KS
May 16, 8:41 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 61Sabetha, KS
May 16, 9:05 PM CDTHail 0.75Horton, 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, 7:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 90 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 1997-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 515 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 1997-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 117 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
515 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-24 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1946 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
117 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
382 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
6.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

973 
WUUS1 KTOP 170059 RRA
SVRTOP
KSC013-131-170200-

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

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
     WESTERN BROWN COUNTY - NORTHEAST KANSAS
     EASTERN NEMAHA COUNTY - NORTHEAST KANSAS

* UNTIL 900 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
     BERN
     BERWICK
     SABETHA
     MORRILL
     FAIRVIEW

* AT 755 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 30 MILES
  NORTHWEST OF HIAWATHA...OR ABOUT 5 MILES NORTH OF BERN MOVING
  SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR
     BERN AROUND 810 PM
     BERWICK...SABETHA...AND MORRILL BETWEEN 815 AND 825 PM

* REPORTS
     LARGE HAIL JUST NORTH OF THE NEBRASKA BORDER IN SOUTHWEST
     RICHARDSON COUNTY
 
LARGE HAIL IS LIKELY.  GO INSIDE A STURDY BUILDING AND STAY
AWAY FROM WINDOWS

DDN

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, 6:17 PM CDT, 1 hour 42 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, 1 hour 40 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, 1 hour 25 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, 1 hour 23 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, 7:37 PM CDT, 22 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
737 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1997

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

0735 PM    LILLIS                    KS   .75 INCH HAIL
05/16/97   MARSHALL
Local storm report, May 16, 7:38 PM CDT, 21 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
737 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1997

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

0735 PM    LILLIS                    KS   .75 INCH HAIL
05/16/97   MARSHALL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 7:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPPottawatomie47 min
May 16, 7:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPRiley, Wabaunsee46 min
May 16, 7:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMarshall14 min
May 16, 7:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPPottawatomie62 min
May 16, 7:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPWabaunsee63 min
May 16, 9:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPBrown, Jackson34 min
May 16, 9:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPJefferson39 min
May 17, 5:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDickinson48 min
May 17, 5:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDickinson47 min
May 17, 6:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDickinson33 min
May 17, 6:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPGeary, Morris61 min
May 17, 6:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPRiley, Wabaunsee60 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.