Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 20, NWS Dodge City, KS

August 18, 1997Seward County, Kansas

NWS Dodge City, KS issued this tornado warning at Aug 18, 1997, 6:58 PM CDT for Seward County, Kansas. It was in force for 32 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
Aug 18, 1997, 6:58 PM CDT (23:58 UTC)
Expired
Aug 18, 1997, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Dodge City, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Seward County, KS

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 100 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:01 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
Aug 18, 7:09 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 55Liberal, KSKnocked out power.
Aug 18, 7:35 PM CDTHail 0.75Liberal, 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 nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 12:00Z, 12.0 hours before the alert went out and 106 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 12:00Z on 1997-08-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 459 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 12:00Z on 1997-08-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 136 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
459 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-41 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
515 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
136 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
127 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDDC 182358 RRA
TORDDC

KSC175-190030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
658 PM CDT MON AUG 18 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  SOUTHERN SEWARD COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN KANSAS

* UNTIL 730 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  LIBERAL                    BY 705 PM CDT
  HAYNE                      BY 715 PM CDT

* AT 655 PM CDT...DODGE CITY DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING
  TORNADO ONE MILE NORTH OF LIBERAL MOrVING EAST AT 15
MPH.

GO TO THE BASEMENT OR A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR!

NOLLER/MCAVOY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 18, 5:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCStanton50 min
Aug 18, 6:45 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCStanton50 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.