Alert archive / Idaho / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Boise, ID

April 30, 1997Malheur County, Oregon; Payette County, Washington County, Idaho

NWS Boise, ID issued this tornado warning at Apr 30, 1997, 3:27 PM MDT for Malheur County, Oregon; Payette County, Washington County, Idaho. It was in force for 63 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 30, 1997, 3:27 PM MDT (21:27 UTC)
Expired: Apr 30, 1997, 4:30 PM MDT
In force: 63 min
Issued by: NWS Boise, ID
Area: Whole counties

Counties Payette County, ID, Washington County, ID, Malheur County, OR

The radar

The Boise radar (KCBX), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:26 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 30, 3:45 PM MDT	Tornado F1	Ontario Arpt, OR

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

Boise Airport, ID (KBOI), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 77 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: 31 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -38 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1407 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 63 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 40 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 166 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBOI 302128 RRA
TORBOI
IDC075-087-ORC045-302230-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BOISE ID
327 PM MDT WED APR 30 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BOISE ID HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  430 PM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST IDAHO
 
   ...PAYETTE COUNTY...WASHINGTON COUNTY
 
 
IN SOUTHEAST OREGON
 
   ...MALHEUR COUNTY
 
AT 325 PM MDT WEAHTER RADAR INDICATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING
POSSIBLE TORNADOS IN WESTERN WASHINGTON COUNTY 5 MILES WEST OF WEISER
AND NEAR ONTARIO OVER EASTERN MALHEUR COUNTY AND APPROACHING WESTERN
PAYETTE COUNTY.
 
THE STORMS ARE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL AFFECT
THE WEISER AREA AROUND 340 PM MDT AND THE ONTARIO AROUND AT 330 PM MDT.
 
STORM SPOTTERS AND MEDIA HAVE HAD REPORTS OF FUNNEL CLOUDS AND TORNADOS
ON THE GROUND WITH THESE STORMS.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
 
 
 
&

The office that day

Everything else NWS Boise, ID issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 30, 3:20 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOI	Washington	55 min
Apr 30, 4:57 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BOI	Elmore	48 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Idaho, 1997 Tornado Warnings in Oregon, 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.