The Topeka tornado started developing at 6:55 p.m. Central Time on June 8, touching down west of the city. The National Weather Service could not find the developing tornado on radar. This is because the Topeka forecast office used a modified military radar that was given by the U.S. government after World War II. While it was considered very good for its time, it was not good at finding tornadoes activity, compared to the Doppler weather radar of the present day. Around 7:30 p.m., a 1/4 to 1/2-mile (400–800 m) wide tornado went to the southwest side Topeka, moving northeast, and passed over Burnett's Mound. Bill Kurtis, then a reporter for WIBW-TV (channel 13; then a hybrid CBS/ABC/NBC affiliate, now only affiliated with CBS) wanted to tell people to take shelter from the devastating storm. He told viewers to get to safety by urging in a calm but stern manner, "for God's sake, take cover!"