Alert archive / Kansas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 49, NWS Dodge City, KS

May 18, 1997Pratt County, Kansas

NWS Dodge City, KS issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 18, 1997, 7:46 PM CDT for Pratt County, Kansas. It was in force for 59 min. 4 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 18, 1997, 7:46 PM CDT (00:46 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1997, 8:45 PM CDT
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Dodge City, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Pratt County, KS

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 109 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:46 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 18, 8:21 PM CDTHail 1Cullison, KS
May 18, 8:25 PM CDTHail 1.5Pratt, KS
May 18, 8:34 PM CDTHail 1.75Coats, KS
May 18, 8:50 PM CDTHail 0.75Croft, KSAlso had 3.5 inches of rain at CROFT

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 18, 5:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 103 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 1997-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 419 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 1997-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -2 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
419 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-81 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2816 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
94 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.

104 
WUUS1 KDDC 190047 RRA
SVRDDC
KSC151-190145-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
746 PM CDT SUN MAY 18 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  PRATT COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 845 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  CULLISON                   THROUGH 815 PM CDT
  PRATT                      THROUGH 815 PM CDT

* AT 741 PM CDT...DODGE CITY DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LARGE SEVERE
  THUNDERSTORM EXTENDING FROM CULLISON TO PRATT TO 4 MILES SOUTH OF
  PRESTON.  THIS STORM IS NEARLY STATIONARY. GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL WAS
  REPORTED IN PRATT AT 744 PM.

 THIS REPLACES THE TORNADO WARNING THAT WAS EARLIER IN EFFECT.

THIS STORM WILL LIKELY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL IN EXCESS OF TWO INCHES IN
DIAMETER.  TAKE ACTION NOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF AND YOUR PROPERTY.
MOVE INDOORS AND STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.  WINDS GREATER THAN 55
MILES AN HOUR ARE ALSO POSSIBLE.

STOUT/MCAVOY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 7:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCHamilton32 min
May 18, 7:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCKearny65 min
May 18, 7:27 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCPratt48 min
May 18, 7:37 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDDCPratt4 hr
May 18, 8:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCHamilton, Stanton48 min
May 18, 8:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFinney50 min
May 18, 8:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFinney, Gray46 min
May 18, 8:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCKiowa, Pratt49 min
May 18, 8:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCGrant62 min
May 18, 9:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCGray31 min
May 18, 9:25 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningDDCPratt4 hr
May 18, 9:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFord64 min
May 18, 9:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCHaskell, Seward50 min
May 18, 9:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCKiowa48 min
May 18, 10:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCMeade60 min
May 18, 10:10 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCFord50 min
May 18, 10:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCKiowa62 min
May 18, 11:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCClark45 min
May 18, 11:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFord59 min
May 19, 12:50 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningDDCPratt5 hr

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.