Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 217, NWS Topeka, KS

September 29, 1998Shawnee County, Wabaunsee County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 29, 1998, 12:42 AM CDT for Shawnee County, Wabaunsee County, Kansas. It was in force for 33 min. 5 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: Sep 29, 1998, 12:42 AM CDT (05:42 UTC)
Expired: Sep 29, 1998, 1:15 AM CDT
In force: 33 min
Issued by: NWS Topeka, KS
Area: Whole counties

Counties Shawnee County, KS, Wabaunsee County, KS

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Sep 29, 12:45 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 61	Maple Hill, KS
Sep 29, 12:53 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 61	Rossville, KS	Numerous trees were reported down along U.S. Highway 24 near Rossville from 70 mph winds.
Sep 29, 1:06 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 60	Topeka, KS
Sep 29, 1:10 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 56	Topeka, KS
Sep 29, 1:20 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 68	Topeka, KS	Winds to 78 mph destroyed several buildings and damaged a hanger at Forbes Field.

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
Sep 28, 11:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 29 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: 1365 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -51 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1785 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 68 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 187 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.2
Supercell composite: 7.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

What forecasters said that day

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

NWS Topeka, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Sep 28, 3:05 PM CDT, 9 hours 37 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 28, 3:05 PM CDT, 9 hours 37 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
305 PM CDT MON SEP 28 1998

...MAIN FORECAST PROBLEM IS THUNDERSTORMS CHANCES...

AS OF 19Z SURFACE CAPE VALUES WERE RUNNING AROUND 3000 J/KG WITH CIN
VALUES OF -20 TO -60 J/KG.  THIS WOULD SUGGEST ANY CAP ACROSS THE AREA
WAS ERODING.  ADAP PUTS BEST MOISTURE CONVERGENCE ACROSS NORTHERN
KANSAS.  ETA AND NGM SHOW SHORT WAVE OVER NORTHWEST NEBRASKA MOVING
SOUTHEAST INTO NORTHERN MISSOURI BY TUESDAY MORNING.  VISUAL
SATELLITE LOOPS SHOW CUMULUS DEVELOPING IN CONVERGENCE ZONE OVER
NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS.  FOR TONIGHT WILL GO WITH CHANCE POPS FOR
AREAS NORTH INTERSTATE 70 AS WAVE ERODES ANY REMAINING CAP.

FOR LATER PERIODS...PREFER THE ETA MODEL.  IT APPEARS TO BEST HANDLE
THE MOVEMENT OF THE UPPER LOW AND THE CANADIAN SURFACE HIGH BY 48
HOURS.

ETA SHOWS A STRONG SHORT WAVE EJECTING OUT OF THE WESTERN US UPPER
LOW INTO NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS BY 06Z WEDNESDAY.  850-700 MB
Q-VECTORS SHOW IMPRESSIVE LIFT AHEAD OF THIS WAVE LATE TUESDAY
AFTERNOON INTO TUESDAY NIGHT.  WOULD EXPECT THE AIRMASS TO BECOME
QUITE UNSTABLE AHEAD OF THE WAVE WITH CAPE VALUES EXCEEDING 3000
J/KG.  COULD SEE A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AS FORECAST SOUNDINGS
SHOW A DECENT AMOUNT OF SHEAR.  CONVECTION SHOULD GEL INTO AN MCS
TUESDAY NIGHT OVER NORTHEAST KANSAS.  COULD MORE FLOODING IF MCS
DEVELOPS...LATER SHIFTS MAY NEED TO ISSUE A FLASH FLOOD WATCH.

MAX TEMPERATURE FORECAST TO BE VERY DIFFICULT ON WEDNESDAY AS
COMBINATION CLOUDS...PRECIPITATION AND APPROACHING CANADIAN TO PLAY
HAVOC WITH HIGHS.

NGM/FWC GUIDANCE LOOKS BETTER THAN COOLER FAN/AVN NUMBER FOR
TEMPERATURES THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT...WITH BELOW GUIDANCE
TEMPERATURES FORECAST ON WEDNESDAY.

.TOP...NONE.

58

In the hours before

Local storm report, Sep 28, 11:39 PM CDT, 1 hour 3 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KANSAS
1139 PM CDT MON SEP 28 1998

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

0933 PM    LAWRENCE                  KS   .75 INCH HAIL
09/28/98   DOUGLAS                        COOPERATIVE OBSERVER
                                          REPORTER IN NORTHERN
                                          LAWRENCE

0938 PM                              KS   .75 INCH HAIL
09/28/98   JEFFERSON                      REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
                                          MANAGER 1 1/2 MILE NORTH
                                          OF JEFFERSON-DOUGLAS
                                          COUNTY LINE ON U.S.
                                          HIGHWAY 59

1035 PM    OTTAWA                    KS   .75 INCH HAIL
09/28/98   FRANKLIN                       COOPERATIVE OBSERVER 6
                                          MILES NORTHWEST OF OTTAWA

Local storm report, Sep 28, 11:41 PM CDT, 1 hour 1 minute before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KANSAS
1141 PM CDT MON SEP 28 1998

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

0933 PM    LAWRENCE                  KS   .75 INCH HAIL
09/28/98   DOUGLAS                        COOPERATIVE OBSERVER
                                          REPORTER IN NORTHERN
                                          LAWRENCE

0938 PM                              KS   .75 INCH HAIL
09/28/98   JEFFERSON                      REPORTED BY EMERGENCY
                                          MANAGER 1 1/2 MILE NORTH
                                          OF JEFFERSON-DOUGLAS
                                          COUNTY LINE ON U.S.
                                          HIGHWAY 59

1035 PM    OTTAWA                    KS   .75 INCH HAIL
09/28/98   FRANKLIN                       COOPERATIVE OBSERVER 6
                                          MILES NORTHWEST OF OTTAWA

1040 PM    OTTAWA                    KS   1.75 INCH HAIL
09/28/98   FRANKLIN                       OTTAWA POLICE REPORTED
                                          GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL...BUT
                                          MOST WAS .75 TO 1.00 INCH

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Sep 28, 9:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Douglas, Jefferson	34 min
Sep 28, 9:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Douglas	29 min
Sep 28, 9:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Franklin	31 min
Sep 28, 10:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Franklin	45 min
Sep 29, 12:10 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Pottawatomie	30 min
Sep 29, 12:27 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Jefferson	33 min
Sep 29, 12:42 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Shawnee, Wabaunsee	48 min
Sep 29, 1:26 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Douglas, Franklin, Osage	64 min
Sep 29, 1:26 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Shawnee	64 min
Sep 29, 2:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Dickinson	45 min
Sep 29, 2:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Morris	29 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kansas, 1998 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1998

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.