Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Topeka, KS

April 14, 1998Coffey County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at Apr 14, 1998, 4:52 PM CDT for Coffey County, Kansas. It was in force for 23 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
Apr 14, 1998, 4:52 PM CDT (21:52 UTC)
Expired
Apr 14, 1998, 5:15 PM CDT
In force
23 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Coffey County, KS

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:54 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
Apr 14, 5:21 PM CDTHail 1.75Le Roy, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 14, 4:15 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 85 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 1998-04-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Topeka, KS at 12:00Z on 1998-04-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 11 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1934 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
11 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
63 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

654 
WFUS1 KTOP 142154 RRA
TORTOP
KSC031-142215-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
452 PM CDT TUE APR 14 1998

 * TORNADO WARNING FOR
     SOUTHERN COFFEY COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL KANSAS

 * UNTIL 515 PM CDT

 * SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
     GRIDLEY
     LE ROY
     BURLINGTON

 * AT 449 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
   THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 33 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
   EMPORIA...OR 6 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GRIDLEY...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40
   MILES PER HOUR.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

STAY TUNED TO LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS FOR THE LATEST SEVERE WEATHER
INFORMATION.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 14, 5:11 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPAnderson, Coffey34 min
Apr 14, 5:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPAnderson31 min
Apr 14, 6:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPBrown, Nemaha40 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.