Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Watches in 2013

Tornado Watch 176

May 18, 201317 counties in Kansas; 12 counties in Missouri

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 18, 2013, 10:39 PM CDT for 17 counties in Kansas; 12 counties in Missouri. It was in force for 3 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 18, 2013, 10:39 PM CDT (03:39 UTC)
Expired
May 19, 2013, 1:45 AM CDT
In force
3 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Largest hail expected
1.5 in
Strongest gust expected
65 kt
All 29 counties

Anderson County, KS, Atchison County, KS, Brown County, KS, Coffey County, KS, Doniphan County, KS, Douglas County, KS, Franklin County, KS, Jackson County, KS, Jefferson County, KS, Johnson County, KS, Leavenworth County, KS, Lyon County, KS, Miami County, KS, Nemaha County, KS, Osage County, KS, Shawnee County, KS, Wyandotte County, KS, Andrew County, MO, Atchison County, MO, Buchanan County, MO, Clay County, MO, Clinton County, MO, DeKalb County, MO, Gentry County, MO, Holt County, MO, Jackson County, MO, Nodaway County, MO, Platte County, MO, Worth County, MO

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 78 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:39 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
30%
One or more EF2 to EF5 tornadoes
20%
Ten or more severe wind reports
70%
One or more gusts of 65 knots or more
30%
Ten or more severe hail reports
20%
One or more hailstones of 2 inches or more
5%
Six or more combined severe hail and wind reports
95%

Warnings issued inside it

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 10:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPGeary, Marshall, Morris, Nemaha, Pottawatomie, Riley and 2 more48 min
May 18, 11:26 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPJackson, Pottawatomie19 min
May 18, 11:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPBrown, Jackson, Jefferson, Nemaha, Pottawatomie, Shawnee and 1 more47 min
May 19, 12:09 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXAtchison, Doniphan36 min
May 19, 1:07 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXAndrew, Daviess, DeKalb, Gentry, Harrison, Nodaway and 1 more23 min
May 19, 1:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXDaviess, Gentry, Harrison, Worth30 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 00:00Z, 3.7 hours before the alert went out and 64 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 2013-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4000 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 00:00Z on 2013-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 44 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
4000 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-55 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
869 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
3 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
44 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
125 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 7:29 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCClay, Cloud, Dickinson, Geary, Jewell, Marshall and 7 more5 hr
May 18, 7:40 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarber, Barton, Comanche, Dickinson, Edwards, Ellsworth and 15 more65 min
May 18, 10:00 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAnderson, Atchison, Brown, Coffey, Doniphan, Douglas and 14 more30 min
May 18, 11:40 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClay, Geary, Marshall, Morris, Pottawatomie, Riley and 1 more35 min
May 19, 5:25 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Bourbon, Cherokee, Crawford, Labette, Montgomery and 2 more2 hr
May 19, 12:51 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Anderson, Atchison, Brown, Butler, Chase and 41 more114 min
May 19, 1:47 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAllen, Anderson, Atchison, Barber, Brown, Butler and 53 more10 hr
May 19, 4:57 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Anderson, Atchison, Butler, Chase, Chautauqua and 22 more63 min
May 19, 5:54 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCherokee, Crawford66 min
May 19, 6:25 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCBourbon, Cherokee, Crawford9 hr
May 19, 6:27 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChautauqua, Cowley, Elk63 min
May 19, 1:48 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCDaviess, DeKalb, Gentry, Harrison, Nodaway, Worth87 min
May 19, 11:30 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdair, Clark, Knox, Lewis, Putnam, Schuyler and 1 more90 min
May 19, 2:59 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCClark, Scotland8 hr
May 18, 8:33 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBurt, Cass, Cedar, Colfax, Cuming, Dakota and 13 more117 min
May 18, 9:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAntelope, Burt, Cass, Cedar, Colfax, Cuming and 19 more5 hr
May 19, 4:34 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAdams, Boone, Buffalo, Clay, Franklin, Garfield and 14 more56 min
May 19, 4:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAdams, Antelope, Boone, Boyd, Buffalo, Burt and 33 more5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Kansas, 2013Tornado Watches in Missouri, 2013Every tornado watch in 2013

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.