Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 2000

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Topeka, KS

July 17, 2000Jefferson County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at Jul 17, 2000, 4:37 PM CDT for Jefferson 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
Jul 17, 2000, 4:37 PM CDT (21:37 UTC)
Expired
Jul 17, 2000, 5:00 PM CDT
In force
23 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Jefferson County, KS

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 78 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:36 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
Jul 17, 4:47 PM CDTTornado F0Winchester, KSA tornado touched down briefly over open country.

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 12:00Z, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 34 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 2000-07-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 8 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 12:00Z on 2000-07-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 40 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
8 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-120 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1164 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
40 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
57 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.

000 
WFUS53 KTOP 172137
TORTOP

KSC087-172200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
437 PM CDT MON JUL 17 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN JEFFERSON COUNTY IN NORTHEAST KANSAS

* UNTIL 500 PM CDT

* AT 430 PM CDT...WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO NEAR VALLEY 
  FALLS...OR ABOUT 25 MILES NORTHEAST OF TOPEKA...MOVING NORTHEAST 
  AT 20 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED...
  VALLEY FALLS
  WINCHESTER
  NORTONVILLE

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY BUILDING. AS A
LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND COVER
YOUR HEAD.

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
Jul 16, 7:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPClay50 min
Jul 17, 5:00 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPJefferson30 min
Jul 17, 5:05 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPJackson, Pottawatomie25 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 2000Every tornado warning in 2000Tornadoes 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.