Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Topeka, KS

May 7, 1997Ottawa County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at May 7, 1997, 4:58 PM CDT for Ottawa County, Kansas. It was in force for 32 min. 2 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 7, 1997, 4:58 PM CDT (21:58 UTC)
Expired: May 7, 1997, 5:30 PM CDT
In force: 32 min
Issued by: NWS Topeka, KS
Area: Whole counties

County Ottawa County, KS

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 7, 4:58 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 61	Bennington, KS
May 7, 5:06 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Bennington, 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 7, 2:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 174 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: 463 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -188 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 833 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 310 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 415 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 5.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

442 
WFUS1 KTOP 072159 RRA
TORTOP
KSC143-072230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
458 PM CDT WED MAY 7 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
     EASTERN OTTAWA COUNTY - NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 530 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
     BETWEEN VINE CREEK AND NILES ON K18

* AT 455 PM RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 20 MILES NORTHWEST OF ABILENE
  OR JUST NORTH OF BENNINGTON MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE NEAR
     RURAL AREAS OF OTTAWA COUNTY BETWEEN VINE CREEK AND NILES
 
GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

ABANDON MOBILE HOMES  GO IN A NEARBY STURDY BUILDING  AS A LAST
RESORT LIE FLAT IN A DITCH AND COVER YOUR HEAD

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 7, 4:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Cloud, Republic	46 min
May 7, 4:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Ottawa	50 min
May 7, 4:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Clay, Riley	48 min
May 7, 5:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Nemaha	45 min
May 7, 5:19 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Marshall	31 min
May 7, 5:26 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Dickinson	44 min
May 7, 5:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Ottawa	34 min
May 7, 5:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Brown	48 min
May 7, 6:07 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Dickinson	48 min
May 7, 6:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Morris	47 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.