Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2000

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 5, NWS Topeka, KS

May 11, 2000Shawnee County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 11, 2000, 7:35 PM CDT for Shawnee County, Kansas. It was in force for 40 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 11, 2000, 7:35 PM CDT (00:35 UTC)
Expired: May 11, 2000, 8:15 PM CDT
In force: 40 min
Issued by: NWS Topeka, KS
Area: Whole counties

County Shawnee County, KS

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 41 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:38 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
May 11, 7:50 PM CDT	Hail 1	Willard, KS
May 11, 8:00 PM CDT	Hail 1	Rossville, KS
May 11, 8:18 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Rossville, KS
May 11, 8:25 PM CDT	Hail 1	Silver Lake, 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
May 11, 7:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 11 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: 4491 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -13 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1450 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 181 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 232 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 3.3
Supercell composite: 30.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS53 KTOP 120034
SVRTOP
KSC177-120115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
735 PM CDT THU MAY 11 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN SHAWNEE COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 815 PM CDT

* AT 728 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 4 MILES NORTH OF WILLARD...OR ABOUT 15 MILES
  NORTHWEST OF TOPEKA...MOVING EAST AT 30 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED...ELMONT...TOPEKA

LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE LIKELY WITH THIS
STORM. TAKE COVER IN A SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER UNTIL THE STORM PASSES.

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM. IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD PREPARE
FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 58 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND DEADLY
LIGHTNING. PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...PREFERABLY
INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 11, 7:04 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Pottawatomie, Shawnee, Wabaunsee	31 min
May 11, 8:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Pottawatomie, Shawnee, Wabaunsee	40 min
May 11, 8:47 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Jefferson, Shawnee	38 min
May 11, 9:24 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	TOP	Douglas, Jefferson	31 min
May 11, 9:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Shawnee	32 min
May 11, 9:58 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	TOP	Shawnee, Wabaunsee	62 min
May 11, 10:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Jackson, Pottawatomie	42 min
May 11, 10:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Jackson, Pottawatomie	47 min
May 12, 1:02 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Brown	18 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kansas, 2000 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2000

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.