Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Topeka, KS

May 25, 1997Wabaunsee County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at May 25, 1997, 8:20 PM CDT for Wabaunsee County, Kansas. It was in force for 50 min. 4 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 25, 1997, 8:20 PM CDT (01:20 UTC)
Expired
May 25, 1997, 9:10 PM CDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Wabaunsee County, KS

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 5 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:23 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 25, 8:28 PM CDTHail 1Alma, KS
May 25, 8:50 PM CDTHail 2Maple Hill, KS
May 25, 8:50 PM CDTTornado F0Keene, KS
May 25, 8:50 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 60Paxico, 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 nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 49 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 00:00Z on 1997-05-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 982 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 00:00Z on 1997-05-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 36 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
982 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-15 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1108 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
36 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
183 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KTOP 260120 RRA
TORTOP
KSC197-260210-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
820 PM CDT SUN MAY 25 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
     EASTERN WABAUNSEE COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 910 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
     KEENE
     VERA

* AT 815 PM RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF TOPEKA
  NEAR KEENE MOVING EAST 5 TO 10 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE CROSSING I70 NEAR MAPLE HILL BETWEEN 830 AND 845
  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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 25, 8:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPRiley32 min
May 25, 8:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMorris61 min
May 25, 8:54 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPShawnee31 min
May 25, 9:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPLyon46 min
May 25, 9:07 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPWabaunsee33 min
May 25, 9:20 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPShawnee30 min
May 25, 9:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPShawnee35 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.