Weak Convection formed a landspout in western Shawnee County near Dover, Kansas. No damage was reported from this weak, short-lived tornado, and it lasted for less than one minute.
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The episode as NWS TOP wrote it up.
Weak Convection formed a landspout in western Shawnee County near Dover, Kansas. No damage was reported from this weak, short-lived tornado, and it lasted for less than one minute.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Topeka, KS wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Sep 17, 11:28 AM CST, 2 hours 52 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 1228 PM CDT MON SEP 17 2012 ...UPDATE TO AVIATION... .DISCUSSION... SHORT TERM FORECAST (TODAY AND TUESDAY)... FALL-LIKE PATTERN IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE OVER THE NEXT FEW DAYS AS LONG WAVE TROUGHING CONTINUES TO TAKE FORM OVER THE GREAT LAKES REGION WITH A WEAKLY AMPLIFIED RIDGE TO THE WEST OF THE FORECAST AREA. BETWEEN THE LONG WAVE TROUGH AND THE WEAK RIDGE NORTHWEST FLOW CONTINUES OVER THE CENTRAL PLAINS. GIVEN THIS PATTERN EXPECT CONDITIONS TO CONTINUE TO REPRESENT FALL-LIKE CONDITIONS WITH NEAR NORMAL TEMPERATURES AND A POSSIBLY A ROUND OR TWO OF LIGHT RAIN. 11 TO 3.9 MICRON IMAGERY SHOWS LOW CLOUDS ACROSS FAR SOUTHEAST KANSAS AND SOUTHWEST MISSOURI. FURTHER NORTH ACROSS NORTHEAST AND EAST CENTRAL KANSAS SKIES ARE PARTLY CLOUDY...BUT SATELLITE IMAGERY SUGGESTS THAT SOME AREAS OF LIGHT FOG ARE FORMING IN NORTHEAST KANSAS. DO NOT EXPECT FOG TO BECOME DENSE THIS MORNING AS MODEL SOUNDINGS FOR THE NEXT FEW HOURS DO NOT INDICATE SATURATION TO THE SURFACE WITH A STRONG INVERSION...HOWEVER A FEW LOW SPOTS MAY SEE SOME REDUCED VISIBILITY UNTIL SUNRISE. FOR LATER TODAY A STRONG UPPER TROUGH WILL BECOME WELL ESTABLISHED OVER THE GREAT LAKES REGION. AS IT BECOMES ESTABLISHED IT WILL SWING THROUGH THE FORECAST AREA PROVIDING SOME MID/UPPER SUPPORT FOR ASCENT...WHICH COULD BRING A FEW SHOWERS TO THE AREA TODAY. AT THE SURFACE THE LEADING EDGE OF A STRONG SURFACE RIDGE WILL GLIDE THROUGH THE AREA RESULTING IN A STRONG PUSH OF COOL DRY AIR BEHIND A COLD FRONT. ONCE THE COLD FRONT AND TROUGH AXIS PUSH SOUTH OF THE AREA LATER TODAY EXPECT THE PRECIP CHANCES TO END. MODEL SOUNDINGS STILL INDICATE MARGINAL TO POOR QUALITY MOISTURE SO DO NOT EXPECT MUCH IN THE WAY OF PRECIP ACCUMULATION...PERHAPS AROUND A FEW HUNDREDTHS OF AN INCH TO A TENTH OF AN INCH. EXPECT TEMPS TODAY TO BE WARMER ACROSS EAST CENTRAL KANSAS AS DIABATIC HEATING WILL ALLOW THAT AREA TO WARM UP PRIOR TO FRONTAL PASSAGE. AS THE SURFACE HIGH CONTINUES TO THE E-SE SOUTHERLY RETURN FLOW WILL COMMENCE FOR TUESDAY AND WEDNESDAY...THUS WE CAN EXPECT A GRADUAL WARM UP FOR THE MIDDLE PART OF THE WEEK. MID RANGE AND EXTENDED FORECAST (WEDNESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY)... WITH SOUTHERLY FLOW ADVECTING WARM AIR BACK INTO THE AREA FOR WEDNESDAY EXPECT HIGHS TO REACH THE LOWER TO MID 80S. WITH THE AFOREMENTIONED LONG WAVE TROUGH FAIRLY STATIONARY OVER THE GREAT LAKES ANOTHER PIECE OF ENERGY WILL ROTATE AROUND THE BASE OF THE TROUGH ON THURSDAY. ANOTHER COLD FRONT WILL ACCOMPANY THE TROUGH AND ANOTHER ROUND OF LIGHT RAIN WILL BE POSSIBLE THURSDAY AS A RESULT OF THE SHORTWAVE TROUGH MOVING THROUGH. AGAIN POOR MOISTURE QUALITY WILL PRECLUDE WIDESPREAD RAIN OR LARGE RAINFALL AMOUNTS. BY LATE IN THE WEEK ANOTHER AREA OF SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE WILL DIVE SOUTHWARD OUT OF CANADA BRINGING A FAIRLY COOL AIRMASS WITH IT. THE COLD FRONT SHOULD PUSH THROUGH NORTHEAST KANSAS SOMETIME FRIDAY WITH COOL NORTHWEST WINDS BEHIND IT. AS THE HIGH SETTLES OVER NORTHEAST KANSAS FOR THE WEEKEND EXPECT OVERNIGHT LOWS TO DIP INTO THE MID 40S...AND POSSIBLY EVEN LOWER SHOULD SKIES BE ABLE TO CLEAR OUT COMPLETELY AND WINDS BE ABLE TO BECOME CALM. ALTHOUGH OVERNIGHT LOWS ARE EXPECTED TO BE RATHER CHILLY EXPECT GOOD DIURNAL RECOVERY THROUGHOUT THE DAY...ALLOWING HIGHS TO RISE INTO THE MID 70S FOR SAT AND SUN. JL && .AVIATION... MVFR CIGS ARE EXPECTED UNTIL 00Z TUESDAY THEN SHOULD SCATTER OUT LEAVING VFR CONDITIONS. FRONTAL BOUNDARY SHOULD MOVE THROUGH TOP AND FOE AROUND 19Z OR SO. WINDS WILL BECOME NORTH NEAR 14 KTS WITH GUSTS TO AROUND 22 KTS. THE WINDS WILL DIMINISH BY 01Z TO LESS THAN 10 KTS FROM THE NORTH. SOME MID LEVEL CLOUDS ARE EXPECTED AFTER 15Z TUESDAY. 53 && .TOP WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... NONE. &&
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TOPEKA KS 316 PM CDT MON SEP 17 2012 KSZ008>012-020>024-026-034>040-054>056-058-059-182030- REPUBLIC-WASHINGTON-MARSHALL-NEMAHA-BROWN-CLOUD-CLAY-RILEY- POTTAWATOMIE-JACKSON-JEFFERSON-OTTAWA-DICKINSON-GEARY-MORRIS- WABAUNSEE-SHAWNEE-DOUGLAS-LYON-OSAGE-FRANKLIN-COFFEY-ANDERSON- 316 PM CDT MON SEP 17 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR EAST CENTRAL...NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST KANSAS. .DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS EAST CENTRAL KANSAS THIS AFTERNOON. A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING ALONG AND SOUTH OF THE TURNPIKE. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE THE MAIN HAZARDS. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...TUESDAY THROUGH SUNDAY. THE PROBABILITY OF HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS LOW. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED THROUGH TONIGHT.
The Topeka radar (KTWX), 30 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 20:19 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
The public reported a thin landspout 3 miles southeast of Dover, Kansas. It made intermittent ground contact for about a minute.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Kansas in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Kansas, 2012Warnings in Kansas, September 2012
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: 413258.