Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Watches in 2009

Tornado Watch 57

March 23, 200938 counties in Kansas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Mar 23, 2009, 6:47 PM CDT for 38 counties in Kansas. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 23, 2009, 6:47 PM CDT (23:47 UTC)
Expired
Mar 23, 2009, 11:49 PM CDT
In force
5 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
2 in
Strongest gust expected
60 kt
All 38 counties

Allen County, KS, Anderson County, KS, Brown County, KS, Butler County, KS, Chase County, KS, Chautauqua County, KS, Coffey County, KS, Cowley County, KS, Dickinson County, KS, Douglas County, KS, Elk County, KS, Franklin County, KS, Geary County, KS, Greenwood County, KS, Harper County, KS, Harvey County, KS, Jackson County, KS, Jefferson County, KS, Kingman County, KS, Labette County, KS, Lyon County, KS, Marion County, KS, Marshall County, KS, McPherson County, KS, Montgomery County, KS, Morris County, KS, Nemaha County, KS, Neosho County, KS, Osage County, KS, Pottawatomie County, KS, Reno County, KS, Riley County, KS, Sedgwick County, KS, Shawnee County, KS, Sumner County, KS, Wabaunsee County, KS, Wilson County, KS, Woodson County, KS

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 21 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:50 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 SPC expected

The probabilities SPC published with the watch, for the watch area over its life.

Two or more tornadoes
40%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
30%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
60%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
30%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
80%

Warnings issued inside it

13 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 23, 6:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPRiley23 min
Mar 23, 7:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPPottawatomie29 min
Mar 23, 7:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPJackson, Nemaha38 min
Mar 23, 7:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPBrown50 min
Mar 23, 8:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDickinson, Morris39 min
Mar 23, 9:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPGeary, Riley, Wabaunsee46 min
Mar 23, 9:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPGeary, Riley, Wabaunsee33 min
Mar 23, 10:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMarion41 min
Mar 23, 10:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPPottawatomie, Riley, Wabaunsee25 min
Mar 23, 10:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPMorris37 min
Mar 23, 10:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTChase22 min
Mar 23, 11:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPLyon, Morris, Wabaunsee35 min
Mar 23, 11:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPOsage, Shawnee, Wabaunsee26 min

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 56 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 2009-03-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3 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 2009-03-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 332 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-529 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1190 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
332 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
505 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 23, 12:39 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCButler, Chase, Clay, Cloud, Dickinson, Ellsworth and 22 more96 min
Mar 23, 1:03 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBrown, Butler, Chase, Clay, Cloud, Cowley and 29 more6 hr
Mar 23, 3:11 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBrown, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua, Clay, Cloud and 27 more94 min
Mar 23, 5:08 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Anderson, Atchison, Bourbon, Brown, Butler and 40 more97 min
Mar 23, 3:50 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAtchison, Holt, Nodaway6 hr
Mar 23, 6:04 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAtchison, Gentry, Harrison, Mercer, Nodaway, Worth116 min

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Kansas, 2009Every tornado watch in 2009

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.