Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 12, NWS Topeka, KS

June 11, 1997Nemaha County, Pottawatomie County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at Jun 11, 1997, 5:09 PM CDT for Nemaha County, Pottawatomie County, Kansas. It was in force for 61 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: Jun 11, 1997, 5:09 PM CDT (22:09 UTC)
Expired: Jun 11, 1997, 6:10 PM CDT
In force: 61 min
Issued by: NWS Topeka, KS
Area: Whole counties

Counties Nemaha County, KS, Pottawatomie County, KS

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 65 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:11 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
Jun 11, 5:35 PM CDT	Hail 1	Onaga, KS
Jun 11, 5:45 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Havensville, KS
Jun 11, 6:05 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 61	Baileyville, 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
Jun 11, 5:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 80 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: 155 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -19 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 633 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 45 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 99 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTOP 112209 RRA
TORTOP
KSC131-149-112310-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
509 PM CDT WED JUN 11 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
     EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN NEMAHA COUNTY - NORTHEAST KANSAS
     EASTERN POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY - NORTHEAST KANSAS

* UNTIL 610 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
     WHEATON
     DULUTH
     ONAGA
     HAVENSVILLE
     LACLEDE

* AT 505 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 45 MILES NORTHWEST OF
  TOPEKA OR 5 MILES NORTH OF WHEATON MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* REPORTS
     LARGE HAIL IN MARYSVILLE
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IN A HOME OR
BUSINESS IS AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID
WINDOWS.

WEISSER

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jun 11, 12:43 PM CDT, 4 hours 26 minutes before

KSZ008>012-020>024-026-034>040-054>056-058-059-112140-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
1243 PM CDT WED JUN 11 1997

...SEVERE WEATHER POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING IN NORTHCENTRAL
AND EASTCENTRAL KANSAS...

STORM SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY ACROSS PARTS OF NORTHCENTRAL
AND EASTCENTRAL KANSAS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...GENERALLY ALONG
AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM CONCORDIA TO CLAY CENTER AND EMPORIA.

WARM TEMPERATURES AND INCREASING HUMIDITY OVER CENTRAL AND EASTERN
KANSAS ALONG WITH AN UPPER LEVEL SYSTEM AND ACCOMPANYING JET STREAM
WILL COME TOGETHER THIS AFTERNOON TO TRIGGER STRONG TO SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS.

THE SEVERE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP OVER WESTCENTRAL KANSAS
THIS AFTERNOON THEN MOVE EAST INTO NORTHCENTRAL KANSAS LATE THIS
AFTERNOON.  THE PRIMARY THREAT FROM THE STORMS IS LARGE HAIL HOWEVER
SOME TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE.

THE STRONG STORMS WILL PUSH INTO THE REST OF NORTHEAST AND
EASTCENTRAL KANSAS THIS EVENING. WITH THE STORMS ALSO COMES THE
POTENTIAL FOR VERY HEAVY RAIN AND SOME LOCALIZED FLOODING.

SD

Local storm report, Jun 11, 4:39 PM CDT, 30 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
439 PM CDT WED JUN 11 1997

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

0438 PM    MARYSVILLE                KS   1 INCH HAIL
06/11/97   MARSHALL

Local storm report, Jun 11, 4:40 PM CDT, 29 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
439 PM CDT WED JUN 11 1997

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

0438 PM    MARYSVILLE                KS   1 INCH HAIL
06/11/97   MARSHALL

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 11, 3:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Marshall, Washington	64 min
Jun 11, 4:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Marshall	61 min
Jun 11, 4:34 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Marshall	61 min
Jun 11, 5:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Marshall	59 min
Jun 11, 5:42 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Jackson	63 min
Jun 11, 6:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Jefferson	60 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.