Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 79, NWS Topeka, KS

May 25, 1997Shawnee County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 25, 1997, 9:50 PM CDT for Shawnee County, Kansas. It was in force for 35 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 25, 1997, 9:50 PM CDT (02:50 UTC)
Expired
May 25, 1997, 10:25 PM CDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Shawnee County, KS

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 41 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:54 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 25, 8:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 2.8 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 1997-05-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 982 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 1997-05-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 36 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
982 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-15 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1108 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
36 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
183 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

717 
WUUS1 KTOP 260251 RRA
SVRTOP
KSC177-260325-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
950 PM CDT SUN MAY 25 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
     SHAWNEE COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 1025 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
     WEST SIDE OF TOPEKA

* AT 948 PM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 10 MILES WEST OF
  TOPEKA MOVING EAST AT 5 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR
     THE WEST SIDE OF TOPEKA THROUGH 1015 PM

* REPORTS
     60 MPH WINDS JUST EAST OF DOVER AT 940 PM

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE
TORNADOES.
 
DAMAGING WINDS 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 25, 8:20 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPWabaunsee50 min
May 25, 8:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPRiley32 min
May 25, 8:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMorris61 min
May 25, 8:54 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPShawnee31 min
May 25, 9:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPLyon46 min
May 25, 9:07 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPWabaunsee33 min
May 25, 9:20 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPShawnee30 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.