Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Topeka, KS

May 4, 1999Jackson County, Nemaha County, Pottawatomie County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at May 4, 1999, 7:30 PM CDT for Jackson County, Nemaha County, Pottawatomie County, Kansas. It was in force for 40 min. 2 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 4, 1999, 7:30 PM CDT (00:30 UTC)
Expired
May 4, 1999, 8:10 PM CDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

Counties Jackson County, KS, Nemaha County, KS, Pottawatomie County, KS

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 61 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:31 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 4, 7:37 PM CDTTornado F0Soldier, KSThe final touchdown occurred over open country southwest of Soldier.
May 4, 7:57 PM CDTHail 0.75Bancroft, 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, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 68 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 1999-05-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 489 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1999-05-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 187 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
489 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-53 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
851 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
64 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
187 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
211 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
3.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

999 
WFUS1 KTOP 050031 RRA
TORTOP
KSC085-131-149-050115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
730 PM CDT TUE MAY 4 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHWESTERN JACKSON COUNTY IN NORTHEAST KANSAS
  SOUTHEASTERN NEMAHA COUNTY IN NORTHEAST KANSAS
  NORTHEASTERN POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY IN NORTHEAST KANSAS

* UNTIL 810 PM CDT

* AT 728 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO 7 MILES SOUTH OF
  HAVENSVILLE...OR ABOUT 31 MILES NORTHEAST OF MANHATTAN...MOVING   
NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.  ANOTHER POSSIBLY TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM WAS 
LOCATED ABOUT 8 MILES WEST OF EMMETT FOLLOWING THE PATH OF THE 
PREVIOUS ONE.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED...
  HAVENSVILLE
  GOFF
  WETMORE
  SOLDIER
  CIRCLEVILLE

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 NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR 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
May 4, 8:08 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPBrown, Jackson, Nemaha42 min
May 4, 8:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPBrown34 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes in 1999

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.