Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 49, NWS Topeka, KS

May 17, 1997Riley County, Wabaunsee County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 1997, 6:50 PM CDT for Riley County, Wabaunsee County, Kansas. It was in force for 60 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 17, 1997, 6:50 PM CDT (23:50 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 1997, 7:50 PM CDT
In force: 60 min
Issued by: NWS Topeka, KS
Area: Whole counties

Counties Riley County, KS, Wabaunsee County, KS

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where
May 17, 6:52 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Alta Vista, KS
May 17, 7:15 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Alma, KS
May 17, 7:18 PM CDT	Hail 1	Alma, KS
May 17, 7:40 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Keene, 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 17, 3:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 73 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: 107 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -414 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1336 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 255 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 258 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: -0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

654 
WUUS1 KTOP 172351 RRA
SVRTOP
KSC161-197-180050-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
650 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
     SOUTHEASTERN RILEY COUNTY - NORTHEAST KANSAS
     WABAUNSEE COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 750 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
     ALTA VISTA
     VOLLAND
     ALMA
     SOUTHERN AREAS OF MANHATTAN
     WABAUNSEE
     PAXICO
     ZEANDALE

* AT 645 PM CDT A TRAINED SPOTTER REPORTED A LINE OF SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORMS FROM JUST SOUTHWEST OF JUNCTION CITY TO 20 MILES
  SOUTH OF JUNCTION CITY...OR JUST SOUTH OF WHITE CITY...MOVING EAST
  AT 25 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR
     ALTA VISTA AROUND 7 PM
     VOLLAND AROUND 705 PM
     SOUTHERN AREAS OF MANHATTAN AROUND 710 PM
     ALMA AROUND 720 PM
     PAXICO AROUND 730 PM

* REPORTS
     GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL IN THE JUNCTION CITY AREA AT 641 PM

DDN
 
DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE LIKELY.  GO INSIDE A STURDY
BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS

&

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 16, 7:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Pottawatomie	47 min
May 16, 7:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Riley, Wabaunsee	46 min
May 16, 7:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Marshall	14 min
May 16, 7:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Pottawatomie	62 min
May 16, 7:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Wabaunsee	63 min
May 16, 7:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Brown, Nemaha	61 min
May 16, 9:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Brown, Jackson	34 min
May 16, 9:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Jefferson	39 min
May 17, 5:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Dickinson	48 min
May 17, 5:18 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Dickinson	47 min
May 17, 6:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Dickinson	33 min
May 17, 6:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Geary, Morris	61 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.