Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 26, NWS Topeka, KS

October 8, 1997Jackson County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at Oct 8, 1997, 6:08 PM CDT for Jackson County, Kansas. It was in force for 47 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
Oct 8, 1997, 6:08 PM CDT (23:08 UTC)
Expired
Oct 8, 1997, 6:55 PM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Jackson County, KS

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 60 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:09 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
Oct 8, 5:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 48 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 12:00Z on 1997-10-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 540 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 1997-10-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 166 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTOP 082307 RRA
TORTOP
KSC085-082355-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
608 PM CDT WED OCT 8 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
     NORTHWEST HALF OF JACKSON COUNTY - NORTHEAST KANSAS

* UNTIL 655 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
     CIRCLEVILLE
     SOLDIER

* AT 606 PM RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO ABOUT 30 MILES NORTHWEST OF
  TOPEKA NEAR EMMETT MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.

 
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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 8, 4:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMarshall48 min
Oct 8, 4:58 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPMorris47 min
Oct 8, 5:18 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPPottawatomie, Riley47 min
Oct 8, 5:44 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPGeary, Morris, Wabaunsee46 min
Oct 8, 5:51 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPPottawatomie49 min
Oct 8, 6:15 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPWabaunsee30 min
Oct 8, 6:30 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPJackson, Shawnee50 min
Oct 8, 6:55 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPJackson35 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.