Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 8, NWS Topeka, KS
NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 24, 1997, 7:57 PM CST for Coffey County, Lyon County, Kansas. It was in force for 48 min. 3 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
- Mar 24, 1997, 7:57 PM CST (01:57 UTC)
- Expired
- Mar 24, 1997, 8:45 PM CST
- In force
- 48 min
- Issued by
- NWS Topeka, KS
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Coffey County, KS, Lyon County, KS
The radar
The Topeka radar (KTWX), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:57 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 24, 8:15 PM CST | Hail 0.75 | Sharpe, KS | |
| Mar 24, 8:25 PM CST | Hail 0.75 | Burlington, KS | |
| Mar 24, 8:30 PM CST | Hail 0.75 | Burlington, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 24, 3:30 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 77 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 853 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -18 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1673 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 48 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 48 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 88 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 1.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KTOP 250157 RRA SVRTOP KSC031-111-250245- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 757 PM CST MON MAR 24 1997 * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR: NORTHWESTERN COFFEY COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL KANSAS SOUTHERN LYON COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL KANSAS * UNTIL 845 PM CST * SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED: HARTFORD LEBO OTTUMWA * AT 754 PM CST RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 15 MILES SOUTH OF EMPORIA...OR JUST SOUTH OF OLPE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. * THE STORM WILL BE NEAR: HARTFORD AROUND 810 PM LEBO AROUND 820 PM OTTUMWA AROUND 820 PM A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE TORNADOES. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM! STAY INDOORS AWAY FROM WINDOWS! SD/DAK
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, Mar 24, 5:42 PM CST, 2 hours 15 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
542 PM CST MON MAR 24 1997
TIME (CST) ...LOCATION OF EVENT... STATE ...TYPE OF EVENT/DAMAGE...
DATE ... ...COUNTY INVOLVED... ...FATALITIES AND INJURIES..
...REMARKS...
---------------------------------------------------------------------
535PM 10 SW LAWRENCE KS GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL
3/24/97 DOUGLASSpecial weather statement, Mar 24, 6:05 PM CST, 1 hour 52 minutes before
KSZ010>012-022>024-026-036>040-054>056-058-059-250100- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 605 PM CST MON MAR 24 1997 SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED OVER PARTS OF NORTHEAST KANSAS. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 615PM CST FOR NORTHERN DOUGLAS AND SOUTHEAST JEFFERSON COUNTIES. GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL CONTINUED TO FALL FROM STORMS IN THESE AREAS ESPECIALLY IN AND AROUND THE LAWRENCE AREA. IN ADDITION SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE EXPECTED IN SHAWNEE AND NORTHERN OSAGE COUNTIES INCLUDING THE CITY OF TOPEKA UNTIL 630PM CST. THREE-QUARTER TO ONE-INCH DIAMETER HAIL WAS REPORTED AT 6PM AROUND 2 MILES EAST OF FORBES FIELD TO THE SOUTHEAST OF THE CITY OF TOPEKA. FINALLY THUNDERSTORMS HAD WEAKENED OVER SOUTHEAST JACKSON AND NORTHWEST JEFFERSON COUNTIES. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING CONTINUES FOR THESE AREAS UNTIL 635PM CST. LARGE HAIL CONTINUED AS THE MAIN THREAT FROM THESE STORMS HOWEVER A TORNADO WATCH CONTINUES UNTIL 9PM CST FOR THAT PART OF NORTHEAST KANSAS ALONG AND NORTHEAST OF A LINE FROM EMPORIA TO TOPEKA AND VALLEY FALLS. KAYS
Special weather statement, Mar 24, 7:32 PM CST, 25 minutes before
KSZ054-250205- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 732 PM CST MON MAR 24 1997 GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED 2 MILES WEST OF EMPORIA NEAR THUNDERBIRD AT 727 PM CST. SD
Special weather statement, Mar 24, 7:33 PM CST, 24 minutes before
KSZ054-250205- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 732 PM CST MON MAR 24 1997 GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED 2 MILES WEST OF EMPORIA NEAR THUNDERBIRD AT 727 PM CST. SD `
Special weather statement, Mar 24, 7:56 PM CST, 1 minute before
KSZ026-039-250300- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 756 PM CST MON MAR 24 1997 THE TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 103 HAS BEEN CANCELLED FOR PART OF KANSAS. THE WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES... ...NORTHEAST... JEFFERSON ...EAST CENTRAL... SHAWNEE THE FOLLOWING CITIES ARE NO LONGER INCLUDED IN THE TORNADO WATCH... TOPEKA KAYS
The office that day
Everything else NWS Topeka, KS issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 24, 6:18 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | Douglas, Jefferson | 47 min |
| Mar 24, 7:13 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | Douglas | 32 min |
| Mar 24, 7:21 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | Lyon | 49 min |
| Mar 24, 8:32 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | Coffey | 43 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.