Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Amarillo, TX

April 10, 1997Randall County, Texas

NWS Amarillo, TX issued this tornado warning at Apr 10, 1997, 4:45 PM CDT for Randall County, Texas. It was in force for 30 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Apr 10, 1997, 4:45 PM CDT (21:45 UTC)
Expired: Apr 10, 1997, 5:15 PM CDT
In force: 30 min
Issued by: NWS Amarillo, TX
Area: Whole counties

County Randall County, TX

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 34 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:45 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.

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 10, 4:52 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Canyon, TX

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The nearest sounding before it

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 34 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 477 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 436 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 394 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: -0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KAMA 102144 RRA
TORAMA
TXC381-102215-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
445 PM CDT THU APR 10 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AMARILLO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  515 PM CDT
FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE
 
   ...EASTERN RANDALL COUNTY
 
AT 443 PM CDT...AMARILLO NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR
INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR THE PALO DURO CANYON MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30
MPH. PEOPLE IN THE PALO DURO CANYON STATE PARK SHOULD SEEK SHELTER NOW.
 
IF YOU ARE OUTDOORS...DO NOT WATCH FOR THE TORNADO.  SEEK SHELTER
IMMEDIATELY IN NEARBY REINFORCED BUILDINGS.  AS A LAST RESORT...
FIND A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR
HANDS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Amarillo, TX issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 10, 3:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Deaf Smith, Randall	56 min
Apr 10, 4:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Potter, Randall	61 min
Apr 10, 5:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Armstrong, Carson	44 min
Apr 10, 6:04 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Gray	56 min
Apr 10, 6:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Randall	66 min
Apr 10, 6:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Armstrong	63 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes in 1997

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.