Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 24, NWS Fort Worth, TX

May 26, 1997Grayson County, Texas

NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this tornado warning at May 26, 1997, 11:14 PM CDT for Grayson County, Texas. 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 26, 1997, 11:14 PM CDT (04:14 UTC)
Expired
May 27, 1997, 12:00 AM CDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Fort Worth, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Grayson County, TX

The radar

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 131 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:13 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 26, 11:45 PM CDTTornado F0Pottsboro, TXA brief tornado touchdown was reported.

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 26, 8:45 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 00:00Z, 4.2 hours before the alert went out and 105 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 1997-05-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 6721 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1997-05-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 91 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
6721 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1087 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
91 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
165 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
3.5
Supercell composite
18.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

748 
WFUS1 KFTW 270415 RRA
TORFTW
TXC181-270500-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
1114 PM CDT MON MAY 26 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT WORTH HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...GRAYSON COUNTY
 
AT 1114 PM CDT...WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LARGE SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 8 MILES NORTHWEST OF
POTTSBORO...JUST SOUTH OF THE RED RIVER. THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTH AT
10 MPH AND HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING TORNADOES IN MARSHALL COUNTY
OKLAHOMA.
 
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 26, 10:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDGrayson58 min
May 26, 11:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDCooke69 min
May 26, 11:58 PM CDTTornado WarningFWDGrayson62 min
May 27, 12:02 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDGrayson3 hr
May 27, 12:27 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDLamar63 min
May 27, 12:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDCooke60 min
May 27, 1:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDGrayson60 min
May 27, 1:30 AM CDTTornado WarningFWDLamar60 min
May 27, 1:52 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDFannin68 min
May 27, 3:07 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHopkins68 min
May 27, 12:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDMcLennan55 min
May 27, 1:21 PM CDTTornado WarningFWDMcLennan39 min
May 27, 1:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDFalls43 min
May 27, 1:42 PM CDTTornado WarningFWDFalls33 min
May 27, 1:48 PM CDTTornado WarningFWDBell42 min
May 27, 2:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHill, Navarro60 min
May 27, 2:30 PM CDTTornado WarningFWDBell45 min
May 27, 3:00 PM CDTTornado WarningFWDNavarro45 min
May 27, 3:15 PM CDTTornado WarningFWDBell45 min
May 27, 3:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHill47 min
May 27, 3:36 PM CDTTornado WarningFWDHill, Limestone54 min
May 27, 3:43 PM CDTTornado WarningFWDFreestone, Navarro47 min
May 27, 4:28 PM CDTTornado WarningFWDLimestone47 min
May 27, 5:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDFreestone55 min
May 27, 5:14 PM CDTTornado WarningFWDLimestone, McLennan61 min
May 27, 5:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDFalls, Leon, Robertson69 min
May 27, 6:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDLimestone30 min
May 27, 6:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDRobertson51 min

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.