Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Dodge City, KS

May 25, 1997Trego County, Kansas

NWS Dodge City, KS issued this tornado warning at May 25, 1997, 4:54 PM CDT for Trego County, Kansas. It was in force for 46 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
May 25, 1997, 4:54 PM CDT (21:54 UTC)
Expired
May 25, 1997, 5:40 PM CDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Dodge City, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Trego County, KS

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 128 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:53 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 25, 5:00 PM CDTHail 1.25Wakeeney, 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 25, 3:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 127 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 1997-05-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 313 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 1997-05-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 90 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
313 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-166 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1225 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
90 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
88 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.

849 
WFUS1 KDDC 252156 RRA
TORDDC
KSC195-252240-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DODGE CITY KS
454 PM CDT SUN MAY 25 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  SOUTHERN TREGO COUNTY IN WEST CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 540 PM CDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  CEDAR BLUFF RESERVOIR NORTHWEST END BY 500 PM CDT
  CEDAR BLUFF DAM            BY 510 PM CDT

* AT 449 PM CDT...DODGE CITY DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 9
  MILES WEST OF CEDAR BLUFF DAM MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* ...TAKE COVER NOW AT CEDAR BLUFF RESERVIOR...

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS IN A
BASEMENT.  IF A BASEMENT IS NOT AVAILABLE...LAY FLAT IN A
DITCH OR DEPRESSION AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

JOHNSON/CICCONE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 7:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFinney31 min
May 24, 7:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCScott35 min
May 24, 8:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFord62 min
May 24, 9:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCClark, Meade32 min
May 24, 9:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCFord33 min
May 25, 4:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCTrego61 min
May 25, 4:19 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCTrego31 min
May 25, 4:31 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCFinney29 min
May 25, 4:36 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCLane29 min
May 25, 4:45 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCEllis30 min
May 25, 5:16 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCEllis34 min
May 25, 5:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningDDCEllis47 min
May 25, 5:53 PM CDTTornado WarningDDCEllis32 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.