Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 63, NWS Fort Worth, TX

April 20, 1997Montague County, Texas

NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 20, 1997, 6:41 PM CDT for Montague County, Texas. It was in force for 64 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
Apr 20, 1997, 6:41 PM CDT (23:41 UTC)
Expired
Apr 20, 1997, 7:45 PM CDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Fort Worth, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Montague County, TX

The radar

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 129 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:43 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
Apr 20, 7:01 PM CDTHail 0.75Bowie, TX

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
Apr 20, 5:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 102 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 1997-04-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 107 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 1997-04-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -16 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
107 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-425 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1341 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
15 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-16 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
40 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.

000 
TTAA00 KFTW 202340 RRA
SVRFTW
TXC337-210045-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
641 PM CDT SUN APR 20 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT WORTH HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...MONTAGUE COUNTY
 
AT 640 PM...RADAR SHOWED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS INTENSIFYING OVER WESTERN
MONTAGUE COUNTY AND MOVING EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. LARGE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS ARE LIKELY.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  AS IT APPROACHES YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING.
IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE MOVE TO STURDY SHELTER NOW.

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.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 20, 3:50 PM CDT, 2 hours 51 minutes before
TXZ091>095-098>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-
210400-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH TEXAS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
350 PM CDT SUN APR 20 1997

THERE IS NOW A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH
TONIGHT ACROSS MOST OF NORTH TEXAS. A FEW OF THE CITIES INCLUDED
IN THE SLIGHT RISK AREA ARE PARIS...SHERMAN...THE DALLAS/FORT
WORTH METROPLEX...TEMPLE AND WACO.

AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE CONTINUED TO APPROACH THE SOUTHERN AND
CENTRAL PLAINS WITH A COLD FRONT APPROACHING THE NORTHWEST PARTS
OF NORTH TEXAS. SURFACE HEATING HAS WARMED TEMPERATURES WELL INTO
THE 80S RESULTING IN A VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS OVER THE RISK AREA.
AS THE FRONT PROGRESSES SOUTHEASTWARD INTO THE AREA...SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP...GENERALLY NORTHWEST OF A
MONTAGUE TO EASTLAND LINE THROUGH 7 PM...A SHERMAN TO DALLAS TO
SAN SABA LINE BY 9 PM...AND POINTS EAST AFTER 9 PM.

LOW AND MID LEVEL WINDS HAVE STRENGTHENED DURING THE DAY AND ARE
NOW SUPPORTIVE OF ORGANIZED CONVECTION. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
WINDS WILL BE THE PRIMARY THREAT.

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND STORM SPOTTER GROUPS NORTHWEST OF A
MONTAGUE TO EASTLAND LINE SHOULD BE READY FOR ACTIVATION THROUGH
EARLY EVENING ...AND ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF NORTH TEXAS LATER
THIS EVENING.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL TELEVISION OR RADIO
STATIONS...OR YOUR LOCAL CABLE TELEVISION PROVIDER FOR LATER
STATEMENTS CONCERNING THIS POTENTIAL SEVERE WEATHER THREAT.
Special weather statement, Apr 20, 3:51 PM CDT, 2 hours 50 minutes before
TXZ091>095-098>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-
210400-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH TEXAS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
350 PM CDT SUN APR 20 1997

THERE IS NOW A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THROUGH
TONIGHT ACROSS MOST OF NORTH TEXAS. A FEW OF THE CITIES INCLUDED
IN THE SLIGHT RISK AREA ARE PARIS...SHERMAN...THE DALLAS/FORT
WORTH METROPLEX...TEMPLE AND WACO.

AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE CONTINUED TO APPROACH THE SOUTHERN AND
CENTRAL PLAINS WITH A COLD FRONT APPROACHING THE NORTHWEST PARTS
OF NORTH TEXAS. SURFACE HEATING HAS WARMED TEMPERATURES WELL INTO
THE 80S RESULTING IN A VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS OVER THE RISK AREA.
AS THE FRONT PROGRESSES SOUTHEASTWARD INTO THE AREA...SCATTERED
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP...GENERALLY NORTHWEST OF A
MONTAGUE TO EASTLAND LINE THROUGH 7 PM...A SHERMAN TO DALLAS TO
SAN SABA LINE BY 9 PM...AND POINTS EAST AFTER 9 PM.

LOW AND MID LEVEL WINDS HAVE STRENGTHENED DURING THE DAY AND ARE
NOW SUPPORTIVE OF ORGANIZED CONVECTION. LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
WINDS WILL BE THE PRIMARY THREAT.

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AND STORM SPOTTER GROUPS NORTHWEST OF A
MONTAGUE TO EASTLAND LINE SHOULD BE READY FOR ACTIVATION THROUGH
EARLY EVENING ...AND ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF NORTH TEXAS LATER
THIS EVENING.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL TELEVISION OR RADIO
STATIONS...OR YOUR LOCAL CABLE TELEVISION PROVIDER FOR LATER
STATEMENTS CONCERNING THIS POTENTIAL SEVERLE WEATHER THREAT.

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 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.