Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 24, NWS Topeka, KS
NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at Oct 8, 1997, 5:44 PM CDT for Geary County, Morris County, Wabaunsee County, Kansas. It was in force for 46 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
- Oct 8, 1997, 5:44 PM CDT (22:44 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 8, 1997, 6:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 46 min
- Issued by
- NWS Topeka, KS
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Geary County, KS, Morris County, KS, Wabaunsee County, KS
The radar
The Topeka radar (KTWX), 29 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:44 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 8, 6:14 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Alma, KS | |
| Oct 8, 6:20 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Alma, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 8, 5:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 79 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
- 540 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 624 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 35 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 166 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 184 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.4
- Supercell composite
- 1.7
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KTOP 082243 RRA
TORTOP
KSC061-127-197-082330-
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
544 PM CDT WED OCT 8 1997
* TORNADO WARNING FOR
EXTREME SOUTHEASTERN GEARY COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL KANSAS
NORTHEASTERN MORRIS COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL KANSAS
WESTERN WABAUNSEE COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL KANSAS
* UNTIL 630 PM CDT
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
ALTA VISTA
VOLLAND
DWIGHT
* AT 543 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 23 MILES SOUTH OF
MANHATTAN NEAR DWIGHT MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.
* REPORTS
TORNADO REPORTED NEAR PARKERVILLE ABOUT 540 PM
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.
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 8, 4:32 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | TOP | Marshall | 48 min |
| Oct 8, 4:58 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TOP | Morris | 47 min |
| Oct 8, 5:18 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TOP | Pottawatomie, Riley | 47 min |
| Oct 8, 5:51 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TOP | Pottawatomie | 49 min |
| Oct 8, 6:08 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TOP | Jackson | 47 min |
| Oct 8, 6:15 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TOP | Wabaunsee | 30 min |
| Oct 8, 6:30 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TOP | Jackson, Shawnee | 50 min |
| Oct 8, 6:55 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TOP | Jackson | 35 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.