Heat, Shawnee
- When
- July 23, 6:00 AM CST to July 27, 6:00 PM CST
- Where
- Shawnee forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 39.042, -95.756 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat in Kansas, July 23 to 27, 1997
Temperatures in the upper 90s to near 105 combined to produce heat indices as high as 110. Kansas State University in Manhattan reached 104 degrees on the 25th.
Where it happened
Every event with a place to put it; 5 filed by county or forecast zone are drawn at its center, in a lighter ring. Tap one for its entry below.
- Tornadoes
- Tropical storms and surge
- Floods
- Wind
- Hail
- Winter weather
- Heat and drought
- Cold
- Fire, smoke and dust
- Marine and coastal
- Other
The toll
- Deaths
- 0
- Injuries
- 0
- Property damage
- None recorded
- Crop damage
- None recorded
- Events
- 5
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
What happened
The episode as NWS TOP wrote it up.
Temperatures in the upper 90s to near 105 combined to produce heat indices as high as 110. Kansas State University in Manhattan reached 104 degrees on the 25th. Emporia rose to 101 on the 27th. High temperatures in the town of Onaga ranged between 100 and 105 each day from the 23rd to 27th. In Topeka, the temperatures never quite reached 100 but did reach 99 on the 24th, 25th and 27th. The heat index in Topeka soared to 110 at 2 PM CDT on the 24th. Kansas Power and Light Company which provides electricity to these areas set an electrical consumption record at 4 PM on the 24th.
The radar
The national radar mosaic for the moment the first event began.
Event by event
5 heat. Local standard time, as filed.
Heat, Riley
- When
- July 23, 6:00 AM CST to July 27, 6:00 PM CST
- Where
- Riley forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 39.297, -96.735 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Lyon
- When
- July 23, 6:00 AM CST to July 27, 6:00 PM CST
- Where
- Lyon forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 38.456, -96.153 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Geary
- When
- July 23, 6:00 AM CST to July 27, 6:00 PM CST
- Where
- Geary forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 39.002, -96.752 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
Heat, Pottawatomie
- When
- July 23, 6:00 AM CST to July 27, 6:00 PM CST
- Where
- Pottawatomie forecast zone
- Coordinates
- 39.379, -96.342 (the zone’s center; the record gives no point)
What these are
- Heat
- Heat below excessive heat criteria that still caused deaths, injuries or significant impacts.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
The same day elsewhere
- Flash Flooding and Lightning Strikes in North Carolina, July 23, 1997
- Tornadoes and Damaging Winds in South Carolina, July 23 to 27, 1997
- Flash Flood in Colorado, July 23, 1997
- Lightning Strike in Arkansas, July 23, 1997
- Flooding in North Dakota, July 23, 1997
- Tornadoes and Flash Flooding in South Carolina, July 23 to 24, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Missouri, July 23, 1997
- Hail and Damaging Winds in Missouri, July 23 to 27, 1997
- Flash Flooding and Damaging Winds in Georgia, July 23, 1997
- Lightning Strike in Nebraska, July 23, 1997
- Lightning Strike in Alabama, July 23, 1997
- Flash Flooding in West Virginia, July 23, 1997
More
Every storm in Kansas in 1997Every state in 1997This day in weather historyWarnings in Kansas, July 1997
Sources
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5606146, 5606147, 5606148, 5606149, 5606150.