Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 96, NWS Topeka, KS

May 17, 2001Coffey County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 2001, 3:42 PM CDT for Coffey County, Kansas. It was in force for 33 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 17, 2001, 3:42 PM CDT (20:42 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 2001, 4:15 PM CDT
In force: 33 min
Issued by: NWS Topeka, KS
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Coffey County, KS

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 104 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:46 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	Remark
May 17, 3:53 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Burlington, 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 17, 1:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 93 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: 2833 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -103 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 818 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 40 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 83 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 
WUUS53 KTOP 172042
SVRTOP
KSC031-172115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
342 PM CDT THU MAY 17 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHEASTERN COFFEY COUNTY IN EAST CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 415 PM CDT

* AT 340 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED 
  A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR BURLINGTON...OR ABOUT 25 MILES 
  NORTHWEST OF IOLA...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED...
  LE ROY
  BURLINGTON
  WOLF CREEK RESERVOIR

LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE LIKELY WITH THIS
STORM. TAKE COVER INSIDE A BUILDING.

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

LAT...LON 3821 9579 3804 9580 3804 9551 3832 9550

58

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 May 17, 3:25 PM CDT, 17 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 17, 3:25 PM CDT, 17 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
325 PM CDT THU MAY 17 2001

PRECIP COVERAGE THIS EVENING THE MAIN FORECAST PROBLEM IN SHORT
TERM..THEN TEMPERATURES AND RAIN CHANCES AGAIN IN LATER PERIODS.

AVIATION THE MODEL OF CHOICE IN SHORT TERM AS IT IS VERIFYING MUCH
BETTER THAN ETA WITH SURFACE PRESSURE PATTERN. SURFACE ANALYSIS
SHOWS SURFACE LOW IN MKC VCNTY WITH OUTFLOW BOUNDARY FROM LAST
NIGHTS/THIS MORNINGS CONVECTION IMPINGING ON MKC AREA. ANOTHER
SURFACE LOW SOUTH OF ICT A REFLECTION OF FAIRLY SHARP UPPER TROUGH
SWEEPING EAST ALONG KS/OK BORDER AS SHOWN BY PROFILERS AND SWIRL IN
CLOUDS ON SATELLITE IMAGERY. THESE TWO LOWS THE FOCUS FOR
PRECIPITATION THIS EVENING WHICH MEANS MAIN THREAT FOR
THUNDERSTORMS/HEAVY RAINS IN OUR CWA WILL BE TO SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST
OF TOPEKA OVER EAST CENTRAL KS. CURRENT TRENDS ON RADAR/SATELLITE
INDICATING AREAS NORTHWEST OF KANSAS TURNPIKE MAY NOT SEE MUCH OF
ANYTHING AS SHOWERS MOVING INTO CENTRAL/NORTH CENTRAL KS HAVE BEEN
DISSIPATING DUE TO THE STRONG COLD ADVECTION. THUNDERSTORMS OVER
EAST CENTRAL KANSAS SHOULD MOVE OUT BY MIDNIGHT AS 850MB/SFC FRONT
SHIFTS SOUTHEAST OUT OF AREA PER AVN.

FRIDAY LOOKING DRY AND MILD WITH PARTLY SUNNY SKIES EXPECTED BY
AFTERNOON AS SURFACE HIGH BUILDS INTO AREA. WILL GO WITH HIGHS IN
THE MIDDLE TO UPPER 70S.

FRIDAY NIGHT SHOULD REMAIN DRY...BUT SATURDAY A TOSS UP AS MODELS
DIVERGE WITH ETA/NGM BRINGING NEXT SYSTEM INTO AREA AT THAT TIME
WHILE AVN HOLDING OFF UNTIL SATURDAY NIGHT/SUNDAY. HAVE BEEN
CARRYING A CHANCE IN EXTENDED FOR SEVERAL DAYS NOW SO WILL CONTINUE
CHANCE POPS FOR SATURDAY AND SATURDAY NIGHT.

.TOP...NONE

PB

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 17, 2:06 PM CDT, 1 hour 36 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
206 PM CDT THU MAY 17 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....
f
0201 PM    LAWRENCE                  KS    .75 INCH HAIL
05/17/01   DOUGLAS

Local storm report, May 17, 3:11 PM CDT, 31 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
311 PM CDT THU MAY 17 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....
H
0310 PM    1 S OTTAWA                KS    71 MPH TSTM GUST
05/17/01   FRANKLIN

Local storm report, May 17, 3:42 PM CDT, 0 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
342 PM CDT THU MAY 17 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....
@
0342 PM    RANTOUL                   KS    .75 INCH HAIL
05/17/01   FRANKLIN

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 17, 3:08 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Franklin	22 min
May 17, 3:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Franklin	46 min
May 17, 4:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Anderson, Franklin	53 min
May 17, 4:26 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Douglas	49 min
May 17, 4:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Lyon	31 min
May 17, 4:53 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	TOP	Anderson, Coffey	67 min
May 17, 5:26 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	TOP	Anderson, Franklin	3 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kansas, 2001 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2001

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.