Alert archive / Missouri / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 15, NWS Kansas City, MO

March 24, 1997Jackson County, Missouri

NWS Kansas City, MO issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 24, 1997, 8:32 PM CST for Jackson County, Missouri. It was in force for 43 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 24, 1997, 8:32 PM CST (02:32 UTC)
Expired
Mar 24, 1997, 9:15 PM CST
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Kansas City, MO
Area
Whole counties

County Jackson County, MO

The radar

The Pleasant Hill radar (KEAX), 23 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:34 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Mar 24, 3:30 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 2.5 hours before the alert went out and 112 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, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 1997-03-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 853 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, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 1997-03-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 48 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
853 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1673 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
48 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
88 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMCI 250231 RRA
SVRMCI
MOC095-250315-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PLEASANT HILL/KANSAS CITY MO
832 PM CST MON MAR 24 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  JACKSON COUNTY - NORTHWEST MISSOURI

* UNTIL 915 PM CST
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
    DOWNTOWN KANSAS CITY
    INDEPENDENCE

* AT 830 PM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR OLATHE
  MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

* THE STORM WILL BE IN DOWNTOWN KANSAS CITY AND INDEPENDENCE
  BETWEEN 830 AND 900 PM.  THIS STORM WILL PRODUCE ONE INCH HAIL
  OR LARGER.

WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...DO NOT USE TELEPHONES OR OTHER
ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY.

A TORNAD`O WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND
OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES.

BEUSTERIEN

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Kansas City, MO wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Mar 24, 2:34 PM CST, 5 hours 58 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 24, 2:34 PM CST, 5 hours 58 minutes before
NORTHWEST MISSOURI FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PLEASANT HILL/KANSAS CITY MO
233 PM CST MON MAR 24 1997

LOOKS LIKE FIRST POTENTIAL SVR WX EVENT OF SEASON SHAPING UP OVR ERN
KS/WRN MO. SFC ANLYS AT 19Z SHWS WRM FNT XTND FM NR FNB TO JUST S OF
IRK AND CD FNT FM ERN SD/ERN NE BACK TO DDC. EAX 88-D AND PROFILER SHW
50 KT + LO LVL JET PUSHING NWRD INTO CWA. AFT MODIFYING CRTN AM SNDG TO
ACCOUNT FOR INCREASED LOW LVL JET...0-3 KM HELICITY VALUES DROPPED TO
MID 80S. REAL THREAT FOR TORNADIC ACTIVITY NOW APPRS TO BE INVOF OF
DVLPG SFC LO AND BASED ON CURRENT PRES ANLYS THAT WOULD BE ALG TOP STJ
3OI CORRIDOR. HOWEVER WITH STEEP LAPSE RATES AND STG MSTR ADVT/CNVGNC
THINK THAT LARGE HAIL STILL DECENT POSSIBILITY OVR GOOD PORTION OF CWA.
VIS LOOP SHWS DVLPG CU IN AREA OF LOWERING LI'S SO THINKING ATTM IS FOR
TSTMS TO BEGIN FIRING AHD OF CD FNT IN 2200-0000 UTC TIME PRD. WILL NOT
MAKE SGFNT CHNGS TO FCT FOR TNT KEEPING HIGHER POPS IN TACT AND WILL
TAILOR WORDING TWDS POTENTIALLY SVR WX. ANTICIPATE WW FM SPC DURING
NEXT CPL OF HRS SO WILL HOLD WRK ZNS TILL LAST MINUTE.

MODELS ALL OFFERING DIFFERENT SOLNS THIS LATEST RUN. WV LOOP SHWS JET
DIGGING SWRD FM GRT BASIN AREA INTO FOUR CORNERS AND WITH BLDG HGTS
UPSTREAM OVER BRITTISH COLUMBIA PREFER AVN SOLN WITH CLOSED LO DVLPG
OVR NRN AZ. BELIEVE THAT NGM SHEARS UPPR LO TO NE TOO FAST AND ETA
CLOSING SW LO OFF TOO FAR S. THEREFORE WILL NOT BUY INTO FAST CLRG FOR
TUE AND WILL LEAVE CLDS AND CRNT POPS IN TACT. WILL GO WITH CLRG FOR
TUE NITE AS FCST FRONTOGENETIC FORCING GRADIENT MVS EWRD. PREFER
SLIGHTLY COOLER FAN GUIDANCE FOR TUE THRU WED TIME PRD.

MCI WU 040/047 033/060 043 99+30

BODNER

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 24, 7:49 PM CST, 43 minutes before
KSZ025-102-MOZ005-006-011>015-020-021-250255-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PLEASANT HILL/KANSAS CITY MO
749 PM CST MON MAR 24 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PLEASANT HILL MISSOURI HAS CANCELLED
THE TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST MISSOURI.  THE TORNADO
WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...

IN MISSOURI...
    HOLT...ANDREW...GENTRY...HARRISON...MERCER...DEKALB...DAVIESS
    AND BUCHANAN

IN KANSAS...
    DONIPHAN AND ATCHISON

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE ALONG A LINE WHICH EXTENDS ACROSS THE
KANSAS CITY METROPOLITAN AREA TO NEAR LINNEUS MISSOURI.  THE TORNADO
WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF WEST CENTRAL MISSOURI UNTI P 9M.

BROWNING
Special weather statement, Mar 24, 7:50 PM CST, 42 minutes before
KSZ025-102-MOZ005-006-011>015-020-021-250255-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PLEASANT HILL/KANSAS CITY MO
749 PM CST MON MAR 24 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PLEASANT HILL MISSOURI HAS CANCELLED
THE TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF NORTHWEST MISSOURI.  THE TORNADO
WATCH IS NO LONGER IN EFFECT FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...

IN MISSOURI...
    HOLT...ANDREW...GENTRY...HARRISON...MERCER...DEKALB...DAVIESS
    AND BUCHANAN

IN KANSAS...
    DONIPHAN AND ATCHISON

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE ALONG A LINE WHICH EXTENDS ACROSS THE
KANSAS CITY METROPOLITAN AREA TO NEAR LINNEUS MISSOURI.  THE TORNADO
WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR MUCH OF WEST CENTRAL MISSOURI UNTI P 9M.

BROWNING

The office that day

Everything else NWS Kansas City, MO issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 24, 6:06 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXGrundy, Mercer, Putnam, Sullivan59 min
Mar 24, 6:36 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXHarrison39 min
Mar 24, 6:48 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXClay62 min
Mar 24, 6:53 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXJackson52 min
Mar 24, 7:06 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXCaldwell, Ray59 min
Mar 24, 7:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEAXClay, Jackson, Ray43 min
Mar 24, 8:04 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningEAXJackson4 hr
Mar 24, 8:17 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningEAXJackson4 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Missouri, 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.