Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 28, NWS Topeka, KS
NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at Oct 8, 1997, 6:30 PM CDT for Jackson County, Shawnee County, Kansas. It was in force for 50 min. 1 report 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, 6:30 PM CDT (23:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 8, 1997, 7:20 PM CDT
- In force
- 50 min
- Issued by
- NWS Topeka, KS
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Jackson County, KS, Shawnee County, KS
The radar
The Topeka radar (KTWX), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:29 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, 7:18 PM CDT | Tornado F1 | Whiting, 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, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 28 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 082329 RRA
TORTOP
KSC085-177-090020-
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
630 PM CDT WED OCT 8 1997
* TORNADO WARNING FOR
SOUTHERN JACKSON COUNTY - NORTHEAST KANSAS
NORTHWESTERN SHAWNEE COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL KANSAS
THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE TOPEKA
* UNTIL 720 PM CDT
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
ROSSVILLE
SILVER LAKE
GROVE
HOYT
DELIA
* AT 630 PM RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 25 MILES WEST OF
TOPEKA OR JUST EAST OF ALMA MOVING NORTHEAST AT 45 MPH.
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR
LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
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.
| 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, 5:44 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | TOP | Geary, Morris, Wabaunsee | 46 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, 6:55 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.