Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 2015

Tornado Warning 23, NWS Topeka, KS

May 15, 2015Brown County, Kansas

NWS Topeka, KS issued this tornado warning at May 15, 2015, 7:44 PM CDT for Brown County, Kansas. It was in force for 13 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 15, 2015, 7:44 PM CDT (00:44 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 2015, 7:57 PM CDT
In force
13 min
Issued by
NWS Topeka, KS
Area
Storm-based polygon
Tornado
Observed
Hail
0.0 in

County Brown County, KS

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 124 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:48 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KFOE), launched 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 102 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 2015-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 840 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 2015-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 51 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
840 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1137 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
51 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
243 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
2.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

792 
WFUS53 KTOP 160044
TORTOP
KSC013-160115-
/O.NEW.KTOP.TO.W.0023.150516T0044Z-150516T0115Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
744 PM CDT FRI MAY 15 2015

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN TOPEKA HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHEASTERN BROWN COUNTY IN NORTHEAST KANSAS...

* UNTIL 815 PM CDT

* AT 741 PM CDT...A CONFIRMED TORNADO WAS LOCATED NEAR ROBINSON...AND
  MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

  HAZARD...TORNADO.

  SOURCE...WEATHER SPOTTERS CONFIRMED TORNADO AT 740 PM JUST WEST OF 
ROBINSON.  IT HAS SINCE GONE UP THE CLOUD BUT COULD TOUCH DOWN AGAIN.

  IMPACT...EXPECT DAMAGE TO MOBILE HOMES...ROOFS AND VEHICLES.

* THE TORNADO WILL AFFECT MAINLY RURAL AREAS OF NORTHEASTERN BROWN
  COUNTY.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

TO REPEAT...A TORNADO IS ON THE GROUND. TAKE COVER NOW. MOVE TO AN
INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A STURDY BUILDING. AVOID
WINDOWS. IF IN A MOBILE HOME...A VEHICLE OR OUTDOORS...MOVE TO THE
CLOSEST SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER AND PROTECT YOURSELF FROM FLYING DEBRIS.

&&

LAT...LON 3990 9534 3990 9533 3985 9533 3983 9537
      3982 9543 3986 9544 3999 9534 3998 9534
TIME...MOT...LOC 0043Z 220DEG 15KT 3986 9539

TORNADO...OBSERVED
HAIL...0.00IN

$$
1 follow-up statement
692 
WWUS53 KTOP 160057
SVSTOP

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS
757 PM CDT FRI MAY 15 2015

KSC013-160106-
/O.CAN.KTOP.TO.W.0023.000000T0000Z-150516T0115Z/
BROWN-
757 PM CDT FRI MAY 15 2015

...THE TORNADO WARNING FOR NORTHEASTERN BROWN COUNTY IS CANCELLED...

THE STORM WHICH PROMPTED THE WARNING HAS WEAKENED AND NO LONGER 
POSES A THREAT TO LIFE OR PROPERTY.  SO THE TORNADO WARNING FOR 
NORTHEAST BROWN COUNTY HAS BEEN CANCELED.

LAT...LON 3990 9534 3990 9533 3985 9533 3983 9537
      3982 9543 3986 9544 3999 9534 3998 9534
TIME...MOT...LOC 0056Z 220DEG 15KT 3990 9534

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 7:14 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPBrown31 min
May 16, 3:02 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementTOPMorris28 min
May 16, 3:40 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementTOPPottawatomie35 min
May 16, 5:09 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementTOPLyon36 min
May 16, 5:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPCoffey, Lyon, Osage47 min
May 16, 5:21 PM CDTSpecial Weather StatementTOPShawnee24 min
May 16, 5:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPOsage, Shawnee, Wabaunsee32 min
May 16, 5:35 PM CDTTornado WarningTOPCoffey, Lyon, Osage13 min
May 16, 5:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPCoffey, Douglas, Franklin, Lyon, Osage, Shawnee50 min
May 16, 6:41 PM CDTAreal Flood AdvisoryTOPDouglas, Jefferson, Osage, Shawnee64 min
May 16, 6:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningTOPDouglas, Franklin, Jefferson47 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 2015Every tornado warning in 2015Tornadoes in 2015

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.