Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 39, NWS Dodge City, KS

May 16, 1997Gray County, Kansas

NWS Dodge City, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 16, 1997, 7:22 PM CDT for Gray County, Kansas. It was in force for 33 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
May 16, 1997, 7:22 PM CDT (00:22 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 1997, 7:55 PM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Dodge City, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Gray County, KS

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 41 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:23 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 16, 7:24 PM CDTHail 1Ensign, KS
May 16, 7:24 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 56Ensign, KS

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 16, 3:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr
May 16, 7:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 00:00Z, 0.4 hours before the alert went out and 47 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 1997-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 146 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 1997-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 72 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
146 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-101 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2206 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
72 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
269 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDDC 170022 RRA
SVRDDC
KSC069-170055-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
722 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  SOUTHEASTERN GRAY COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN KANSAS

* UNTIL 755 PM CDT
 
* THIS STORM IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN OVER OPEN COUNTRY.

* AT 720 PM CDT...DODGE CITY DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM 1 MILE SOUTH OF ENSIGN MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 5 MPH.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM...BE PREPARED FOR WINDS IN
EXCESS OF 55 MPH AND HAIL UP TO ONE INCH IN DIAMETER.  IF YOU ARE
CAUGHT OUTSIDE...MOVE TO A STURDY SHELTER IMMEDIATELY AND STAY AWAY
FROM WINDOWS.

RUTHI/MCAVOY

The office that day

Everything else NWS Dodge City, KS issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 7:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFord50 min
May 16, 7:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCClark, Meade61 min
May 16, 8:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCMeade63 min
May 17, 3:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCRush30 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kansas, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.