Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 64, NWS Topeka, KS

May 18, 1997Shawnee County, Wabaunsee County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 18, 1997, 7:09 PM CDT for Shawnee County, Wabaunsee County, Kansas. It was in force for 46 min. 5 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 18, 1997, 7:09 PM CDT (00:09 UTC)
Expired: May 18, 1997, 7:55 PM CDT
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS Topeka, KS
Area: Whole counties

Counties Shawnee County, KS, Wabaunsee County, KS

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where
May 18, 7:18 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Berryton, KS
May 18, 7:18 PM CDT	Hail 1	Pauline, KS
May 18, 7:26 PM CDT	Hail 1	Topeka Forbes Fld, KS
May 18, 7:45 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Eskridge, KS
May 18, 7:50 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52	Auburn, 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 18, 5:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 29 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: 2665 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2061 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 85 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 3.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTOP 190009 RRA
SVRTOP
KSC111-177-197-190055-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
709 PM CDT SUN MAY 18 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
     NORTHWESTERN LYON COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL KANSAS
     SOUTHERN SHAWNEE COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL KANSAS
     SOUTHERN WABAUNSEE COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 755 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
     SOUTH SIDE OF TOPEKA
     AUBURN
     WAKARUSA
     ESKRIDGE
     BUSHONG

* AT 705 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
  EXTENDING FROM 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF TOPEKA NEAR AUBURN TO
  20 MILES NORTHWEST OF EMPORIA NEAR COUNCIL GROVE MOVING
  EAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE STORMS WILL BE NEAR
     WAKARUSA AND THE SOUTH SIDE OF TOPEKA AROUND 715 PM
 
DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL ARE LIKELY.  GO INSIDE A STURDY
BUILDING AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS!

SD/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 18, 2:05 PM CDT, 5 hours 4 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
204 PM CDT SUN MAY 18 1997

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

0745 PM   ~ DOVER                     KS   60 MPH TSTM GUST
05/17/97   SHAWNEE

Local storm report, May 18, 7:07 PM CDT, 2 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
707 PM CDT SUN MAY 18 1997

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

0651 PM    DIAMOND SPGS              KS   1 INCH HAIL
05/18/97   MORRIS

Local storm report, May 18, 7:09 PM CDT, 0 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
707 PM CDT SUN MAY 18 1997

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

0651 PM    DIAMOND SPGS              KS   1 INCH HAIL
05/18/97   MORRIS

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 18, 7:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Dickinson	64 min
May 18, 7:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Lyon	46 min
May 18, 7:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Douglas, Jefferson	61 min
May 18, 7:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Osage	61 min
May 18, 7:52 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Morris	48 min
May 18, 7:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Shawnee, Wabaunsee	64 min
May 18, 7:59 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Morris	31 min
May 18, 8:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Douglas, Jefferson	60 min
May 18, 8:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Lyon, Osage	59 min
May 18, 8:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Dickinson	61 min
May 18, 9:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Osage	48 min
May 18, 9:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Franklin	48 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.