Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Dodge City, KS

August 18, 1997Meade County, Seward County, Kansas

NWS Dodge City, KS issued this tornado warning at Aug 18, 1997, 7:30 PM CDT for Meade County, Seward County, Kansas. It was in force for 45 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: Aug 18, 1997, 7:30 PM CDT (00:30 UTC)
Expired: Aug 18, 1997, 8:15 PM CDT
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Dodge City, KS
Area: Whole counties

Counties Meade County, KS, Seward County, KS

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:30 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
Aug 18, 7:35 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Liberal, KS
Aug 18, 7:41 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Liberal, KS
Aug 18, 7:50 PM CDT	Hail 1	Meade, KS
Aug 18, 7:56 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 55	Plains, KS	Trees damaged.

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 00:00Z, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 88 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: 1058 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -19 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 720 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 70 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 150 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.5
Supercell composite: 3.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDDC 190030 RRA
TORDDC
KSC119-175-190115-

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

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  SOUTHWESTERN MEADE COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN KANSAS
  SOUTHEASTERN SEWARD COUNTY IN SOUTHWESTERN KANSAS

* UNTIL 815 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  MEADE STATE PARK           BY 800 PM CDT

* AT 727 PM CDT...DODGE CITY DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
DEVELOPING TORNADO 7 MILES SOUTHEAST OF THE NATIONAL HELIUM PLANT
...OR 12 MILES EAST-NORTHEAST OF LIBERAL...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS IN A
BASEMENT.  IF A BASEMENT IS NOT AVAILABLE...GO THE AN INTERIOR ROOM
ON THE LOWEST FLOOjR POSSIBLE

THIS REPLACES THE WARNING ISSUED EARLIER FOR SOUTHERN SEWARD COUNTY.

BURKE/MCAVOY

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 18, 9:23 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	DDC	Barber	32 min
Aug 18, 9:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	DDC	Kearny	46 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 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.