Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 51, NWS Topeka, KS

May 17, 1997Shawnee County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 1997, 7:34 PM CDT for Shawnee County, Kansas. It was in force for 61 min. 2 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, 7:34 PM CDT (00:34 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 1997, 8:35 PM CDT
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Shawnee County, KS

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 17, 7:45 PM CDTHail 0.75Dover, KS
May 17, 7:45 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Dover, 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 17, 7:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 11 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 1997-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 647 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 1997-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 53 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
647 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-131 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2220 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
53 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
290 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
9.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

967 
WUUS1 KTOP 180035 RRA
SVRTOP
KSC177-180135-

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

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
     SHAWNEE COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 835 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
     TOPEKA
     DOVER
     AUBURN
     SILVER LAKE
     TECUMSEH
     PAULINE
     WAKARUSA

* AT 730 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 25 MILES WEST
  OF TOPEKA...OR ABOUT 5 MILES EAST OF ALMA MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR
     DOVER AROUND 740 PM
     WEST SIDE OF TOPEKA AROUND 750 PM
     SILVER LAKE AROUND 750 PM
     PAULINE AROUND 800 PM
     TECUMSEH AROUND 815 PM

* REPORTS
     ONE INCH HAIL IN ALMA AT 720 PM
 
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 17, 6:40 PM CDT, 54 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
640 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 1997

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

0635 PM    JUNCTION CITY             KS   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/17/97   GEARY
Local storm report, May 17, 6:41 PM CDT, 53 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
640 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 1997

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

0635 PM    JUNCTION CITY             KS   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/17/97   GEARY
Local storm report, May 17, 6:54 PM CDT, 40 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
654 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 1997

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

0652 PM    ALTA VISTA                KS   .75 INCH HAIL
05/17/97   WABAUNSEE
Local storm report, May 17, 6:55 PM CDT, 39 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
654 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 1997

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

0652 PM    ALTA VISTA                KS   .75 INCH HAIL
05/17/97   WABAUNSEE
Local storm report, May 17, 7:18 PM CDT, 16 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
718 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 1997

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

0718 PM    ALMA                      KS   1 INCH HAIL
05/17/97   WABAUNSEE
Local storm report, May 17, 7:20 PM CDT, 14 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
718 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 1997

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

0718 PM    ALMA                      KS   1 INCH HAIL
05/17/97   WABAUNSEE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 7:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPOsage47 min
May 17, 7:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDouglas, Osage62 min
May 17, 8:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPFranklin44 min
May 17, 8:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMarshall63 min
May 17, 8:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPJefferson50 min
May 17, 8:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPNemaha48 min
May 17, 9:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPAnderson45 min
May 17, 9:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDickinson, Morris35 min
May 17, 10:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPAnderson32 min
May 17, 10:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMorris52 min
May 18, 6:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMorris62 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.