Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Fort Worth, TX

March 1, 1997Falls County, Limestone County, Texas

NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this tornado warning at Mar 1, 1997, 11:36 PM CST for Falls County, Limestone County, Texas. It was in force for 69 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
Mar 1, 1997, 11:36 PM CST (05:36 UTC)
Expired
Mar 2, 1997, 12:45 AM CST
In force
69 min
Issued by
NWS Fort Worth, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Falls County, TX, Limestone County, TX

The radar

The Ft Hood radar (KGRK), 96 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:37 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
Mar 2, 12:05 AM CSTThunderstorm WindMarlin, TX
Mar 2, 12:30 AM CSTHail 1Groesbeck, 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, 5.6 hours before the alert went out and 167 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 1997-03-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 434 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 00:00Z on 1997-03-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 52 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
434 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
959 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
86 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
52 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
157 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFTW 020537 RRA
TORFTW
TXC145-293-020645-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
1136 PM CST SAT MAR 1 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT WORTH HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1245 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...EASTERN FALLS COUNTY...SOUTHERN LIMESTONE COUNTY
 
AT 1135...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 5 MILES EAST OF
MARLIN MOVING EAST-NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. PERSONS LIVING IN KOSSE AND
THORNTON ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM. THIS IS THE SAME STORM THAT
OVERTURNED MOBILE HOMES IN THE TEMPLE AREA AT 1030 PM CST.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 1, 7:27 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHill48 min
Mar 1, 7:51 PM CSTTornado WarningFWDHill54 min
Mar 1, 10:06 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDBell69 min
Mar 1, 10:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDFalls60 min
Mar 2, 12:02 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDLampasas58 min
Mar 2, 12:45 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHamilton60 min
Mar 2, 1:48 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDComanche, Mills57 min
Mar 2, 2:22 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDDallas68 min
Mar 2, 3:31 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningFWDComanche, Erath, Hamilton4 hr
Mar 2, 3:31 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningFWDLampasas, Mills4 hr
Mar 2, 6:50 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningFWDPalo Pinto3 hr
Mar 2, 7:29 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningFWDHamilton, Lampasas, Mills3 hr
Mar 2, 7:29 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningFWDComanche, Eastland, Erath3 hr
Mar 2, 8:00 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHenderson, Kaufman, Van Zandt60 min
Mar 2, 8:21 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHopkins, Rains69 min
Mar 2, 9:00 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHenderson, Van Zandt60 min
Mar 2, 9:58 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningFWDComanche, Hamilton, Lampasas, Mills3 hr
Mar 2, 9:58 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningFWDEastland, Erath, Palo Pinto3 hr
Mar 2, 12:23 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningFWDHood, Somervell6 hr
Mar 2, 12:23 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningFWDParker6 hr
Mar 2, 12:43 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDDelta, Lamar47 min
Mar 2, 12:52 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningFWDBosque, Erath6 hr
Mar 2, 12:52 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningFWDPalo Pinto6 hr
Mar 2, 1:03 PM CSTTornado WarningFWDLamar57 min
Mar 2, 5:16 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningFWDBosque119 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.