Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 53, NWS Topeka, KS

May 17, 1997Franklin County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 1997, 8:06 PM CDT for Franklin County, Kansas. It was in force for 44 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 17, 1997, 8:06 PM CDT (01:06 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 1997, 8:50 PM CDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Franklin County, KS

The radar

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 93 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:06 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

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, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 57 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.

128 
WUUS1 KTOP 180107 RRA
SVRTOP
KSC059-180150-

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

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
     NORTHERN FRANKLIN COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 850 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
     POMONA
     CENTROPOLIS
     LE LOUP
     OTTAWA

* AT 804 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 15 MILES
  NORTHWEST OF OTTAWA...OR ABOUT 10 MILES NORTH OF  POMONA MOVING
  EAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR
     POMONA AROUND 815 PM
     CENTROPOLIS AROUND 825 PM
     OVERBROOK AROUND 830 PM

* REPORTS
     GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL IN OVERBROOK
 
DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE LIKELY.  GO INSIDE A STURDY
BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS

&

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, 7:20 PM CDT, 46 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, 7:46 PM CDT, 20 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
746 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 1997

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

0740 PM    KEENE                     KS   .75 INCH HAIL
05/17/97   WABAUNSEE

0745 PM    DOVER                     KS   .88 INCH HAIL
05/17/97   SHAWNEE

0745 PM    SCRANTON                  KS   1 INCH HAIL
05/17/97   OSAGE

0746 PM    CARBONDALE                KS   1 INCH HAIL
05/17/97   OSAGE
Local storm report, May 17, 7:49 PM CDT, 17 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
746 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 1997

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

0740 PM    KEENE                     KS   .75 INCH HAIL
05/17/97   WABAUNSEE

0745 PM    DOVER                     KS   .88 INCH HAIL
05/17/97   SHAWNEE

0745 PM    SCRANTON            ,      KS   1 INCH HAIL
05/17/97   OSAGE

0746 PM    CARBONDALE                KS   1 INCH HAIL
05/17/97   OSAGE
Local storm report, May 17, 7:51 PM CDT, 15 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
751 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 1997

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

0750 PM    1 S CARBONDALE            KS   60 MPH TSTM GUST
05/17/97   OSAGE
Local storm report, May 17, 7:53 PM CDT, 13 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
753 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 1997

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

0752 PM    OVERBROOK                 KS   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/17/97   OSAGE
Local storm report, May 17, 7:55 PM CDT, 11 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
753 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 1997

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

0752 PMj    OVERBROOK                 KS   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/17/97   OSAGE

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, 7:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPShawnee61 min
May 17, 7:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDouglas, Osage62 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.