Alert archive / Kansas / Mesoscale Discussions in 2026

Mesoscale Discussion 556

April 26, 202641 counties in Kansas; 9 counties in Missouri; Pawnee County, Richardson County, Nebraska

The Storm Prediction Center issued this mesoscale discussion at Apr 26, 2026, 8:38 PM CDT for 41 counties in Kansas; 9 counties in Missouri; Pawnee County, Richardson County, Nebraska. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Apr 26, 2026, 8:38 PM CDT (01:38 UTC)
Expired
Apr 26, 2026, 10:45 PM CDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
the Storm Prediction Center
Concerning
Severe potential...watch likely
Chance of a watch
80%
All 52 counties

Atchison County, KS, Barton County, KS, Brown County, KS, Clay County, KS, Cloud County, KS, Dickinson County, KS, Doniphan County, KS, Douglas County, KS, Ellis County, KS, Ellsworth County, KS, Franklin County, KS, Geary County, KS, Graham County, KS, Jackson County, KS, Jefferson County, KS, Jewell County, KS, Johnson County, KS, Leavenworth County, KS, Lincoln County, KS, Lyon County, KS, Marshall County, KS, Mitchell County, KS, Morris County, KS, Nemaha County, KS, Ness County, KS, Osage County, KS, Osborne County, KS, Ottawa County, KS, Pottawatomie County, KS, Republic County, KS, Riley County, KS, Rooks County, KS, Rush County, KS, Russell County, KS, Saline County, KS, Shawnee County, KS, Smith County, KS, Trego County, KS, Wabaunsee County, KS, Washington County, KS, Wyandotte County, KS, Andrew County, MO, Buchanan County, MO, Clay County, MO, Clinton County, MO, DeKalb County, MO, Gentry County, MO, Holt County, MO, Jackson County, MO, Platte County, MO, Pawnee County, NE, Richardson County, NE

The radar

The Topeka radar (KTWX), 73 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:38 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 watches that followed

Watches SPC issued over any of the same counties within four hours of this discussion.

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 119 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 2026-04-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 99 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 2026-04-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 236 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
99 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-92 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
644 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
236 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
443 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted.

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SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 26, 7:40 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChautauqua, Cherokee, Labette, Montgomery65 min
Apr 26, 8:48 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarber, Comanche, Harper, Kingman, Kiowa, Pratt2 hr
Apr 26, 9:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAnderson, Atchison, Barton, Brown, Chase, Clay and 41 more7 hr
Apr 26, 9:38 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAllen, Barber, Butler, Chautauqua, Clark, Comanche and 19 more6 hr
Apr 27, 1:17 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCChautauqua, Cowley, Elk, Montgomery, Wilson58 min
Apr 27, 1:39 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCClay, Dickinson, Douglas, Franklin, Geary, Jackson and 13 more96 min
Apr 27, 3:24 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCJohnson, Wyandotte96 min
Apr 27, 3:46 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAnderson, Coffey, Dickinson, Douglas, Franklin, Geary and 11 more6 hr
Apr 27, 1:55 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAllen, Anderson, Bourbon, Cherokee, Crawford, Labette and 2 more95 min
Apr 27, 2:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAllen, Bourbon, Chautauqua, Cherokee, Crawford, Labette and 4 more7 hr
Apr 26, 10:22 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBarry, Barton, Cedar, Christian, Dade, Dallas and 18 more113 min
Apr 26, 10:56 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCMcDonald94 min
Apr 27, 12:50 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCrawford, Dent, Franklin, Gasconade, Iron, Osage and 3 more55 min
Apr 27, 4:07 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPCAudrain, Bollinger, Boone, Butler, Callaway, Cape Girardeau and 32 more6 hr
Apr 27, 5:59 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCass, Cooper, Johnson, Lafayette, Pettis, Saline91 min
Apr 27, 7:36 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAudrain, Boone, Callaway, Cape Girardeau, Cole, Franklin and 17 more84 min
Apr 27, 9:33 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAudrain, Bates, Benton, Boone, Callaway, Camden and 23 more117 min
Apr 27, 11:56 AM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBenton, Callaway, Camden, Cole, Franklin, Gasconade and 12 more2 hr
Apr 27, 12:50 PM CDTTornado WatchSPCAudrain, Benton, Boone, Callaway, Camden, Christian and 43 more9 hr
Apr 27, 1:44 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCBollinger, Butler, Cape Girardeau, Carter, Dunklin, Mississippi and 7 more2 hr
Apr 27, 2:46 PM CDTTornado Watch PDSSPCBollinger, Butler, Cape Girardeau, Carter, Dunklin, Mississippi and 7 more7 hr
Apr 27, 3:55 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCAudrain, Boone, Callaway, Camden, Cole, Crawford and 25 more2 hr
Apr 27, 6:18 PM CDTMesoscale DiscussionSPCCape Girardeau, Dunklin, Mississippi, New Madrid, Pemiscot, Scott and 1 more87 min

Nearby

Mesoscale Discussions in Kansas, 2026Mesoscale Discussions in Missouri, 2026Mesoscale Discussions in Nebraska, 2026Every mesoscale discussion in 2026

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.