Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Fort Worth, TX

May 8, 1997Wise County, Texas

NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this tornado warning at May 8, 1997, 9:40 PM CDT for Wise County, Texas. It was in force for 50 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
May 8, 1997, 9:40 PM CDT (02:40 UTC)
Expired
May 8, 1997, 10:30 PM CDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Fort Worth, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Wise County, TX

The radar

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:42 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 8, 9:50 PM CDTThunderstorm WindBridgeport, TXStrong winds blew down power lines.
May 8, 10:29 PM CDTHail 0.88Boonsville, 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 nearest sounding before it

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 00:00Z, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 55 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 00:00Z on 1997-05-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1444 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 1997-05-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 26 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1444 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-31 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
916 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
26 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
10 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

324 
WFUS1 KFTW 090240 RRA
TORFTW
TXC497-090330-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
940 PM CDT THU MAY 8 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT WORTH HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...WISE COUNTY
 
AT 940 PM...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR
RUNAWAY BAY OR 5 MILES WEST-NORTHWEST OF BRIDGEPORT. A PUBLIC REPORT OF
A TORNADO HAS ALSO BEEN RECEIVED IN THIS AREA. THE STORM WAS MOVING
SOUTH-SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
 
 
&

The office that day

Everything else NWS Fort Worth, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 8, 8:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDJack, Montague57 min
May 8, 8:59 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDJack61 min
May 8, 8:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDJack61 min
May 8, 9:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDWise59 min
May 8, 9:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDLamar64 min
May 8, 10:22 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDWise3 hr
May 8, 10:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDParker, Wise66 min
May 8, 10:53 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDDenton, Parker, Tarrant3 hr
May 8, 10:53 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDPalo Pinto3 hr
May 9, 12:47 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDErath, Hood, Somervell3 hr
May 9, 1:30 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDWise4 hr
May 9, 2:00 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDDenton, Parker, Tarrant4 hr
May 9, 2:00 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDPalo Pinto4 hr
May 9, 2:51 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDEastland4 hr
May 9, 3:45 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDHood, Somervell3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 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.