Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Amarillo, TX

June 11, 1997Donley County, Gray County, Texas

NWS Amarillo, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 11, 1997, 8:44 PM CDT for Donley County, Gray County, Texas. It was in force for 61 min. 2 reports 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: Jun 11, 1997, 8:44 PM CDT (01:44 UTC)
Expired: Jun 11, 1997, 9:45 PM CDT
In force: 61 min
Issued by: NWS Amarillo, TX
Area: Whole counties

Counties Donley County, TX, Gray County, TX

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:47 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
Jun 11, 8:47 PM CDT	Tornado F1	Mc Lean, TX	Tornado remained over open country and track was estimated.
Jun 11, 8:58 PM CDT	Tornado F1	Jericho, TX	Tornado remained over open country and track was estimated.

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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jun 11, 4:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 81 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: 875 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2722 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 42 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 104 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

754 
WFUS1 KAMA 120144 RRA
TORAMA
TXC129-179-120245-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
844 PM CDT WED JUN 11 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AMARILLO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 PM CDT
FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE
 
   ...NORTHERN DONLEY COUNTY...EASTERN GRAY COUNTY
 
AT 840 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
DEVELOPING TORNADO ON THE WEST SIDE OF MCLEAN. THIS STORM WAS MOVING
EAST AT 10 MPH. THE COMMUNITY OF MCLEAN IS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM.
 
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
Jun 11, 7:00 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	AMA	Wheeler	4 hr
Jun 11, 7:04 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	AMA	Wheeler	56 min
Jun 11, 7:21 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	AMA	Collingsworth	69 min
Jun 11, 7:59 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	AMA	Collingsworth, Wheeler	61 min
Jun 11, 9:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Collingsworth, Wheeler	58 min
Jun 11, 9:43 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	AMA	Collingsworth, Wheeler	4 hr
Jun 11, 10:09 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Collingsworth	66 min
Jun 11, 10:21 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	AMA	Collingsworth	39 min
Jun 12, 5:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Hartley	62 min
Jun 12, 5:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Dallam	61 min
Jun 12, 5:54 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Moore	66 min
Jun 12, 6:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Wheeler	64 min
Jun 12, 6:17 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Hartley	43 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.