Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 9, NWS Topeka, KS

March 24, 1997Coffey County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 24, 1997, 8:32 PM CST for Coffey County, Kansas. It was in force for 43 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
Mar 24, 1997, 8:32 PM CST (02:32 UTC)
Expired
Mar 24, 1997, 9:15 PM CST
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Coffey County, KS

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:32 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
Mar 24, 3:30 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 2.5 hours before the alert went out and 85 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 1997-03-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 853 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 1997-03-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 48 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTOP 250233 RRA
SVRTOP
KSC031-250315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
832 PM CST MON MAR 24 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR:
  COFFEY COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 915 PM CST
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED:

  BURLINGTON
  GRIDLEY
  WOLF CREEK POWER PLANT
  LE ROY
  WAVERLY

* AT 825 PM CST RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 25 MILES
  SOUTHEAST OF EMPORIA...NEAR BURLINGTON MOVING EAST AT 35 MILES AN
  HOUR.

* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR:

  WOLF CREEK POWER PLANT BY 840 PM
  LE ROY AROUND 845 PM
  WAVERLY 9 PM

* REPORTS:

  DIME SIZED HAIL AT 825 PM 9 MILES WEST OF BURLINGTON

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE
TORNADOES.
 
THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF LARGE HAIL.  STAY INDOORS AWAY FROM
WINDOWS!

WALAWENDER

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 50 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    DOUGLAS
Special weather statement, Mar 24, 6:05 PM CST, 2 hours 27 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, 1 hour 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, 59 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, 36 minutes 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 24, 6:18 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDouglas, Jefferson47 min
Mar 24, 7:13 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDouglas32 min
Mar 24, 7:21 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPLyon49 min
Mar 24, 7:57 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPCoffey, Lyon48 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.