Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 60, NWS Fort Worth, TX
NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this tornado warning at Oct 23, 1997, 5:06 PM CDT for Wise County, Texas. It was in force for 39 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
- Oct 23, 1997, 5:06 PM CDT (22:06 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 23, 1997, 5:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 39 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 22:08 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 23, 5:17 PM CDT | Hail 1.5 | Bridgeport, TX | |
| Oct 23, 5:20 PM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Paradise, TX | Golfball size hail covered the ground. |
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 12:00Z, 10.1 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 739 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 39 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 219 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 269 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KFTW 232208 RRA TORFTW TXC497-232245- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 506 PM CDT THU OCT 23 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT WORTH HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 545 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS ...WISE COUNTY AT 506 PM...A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM WAS 8 MILES WEST OF PARADISE MOVING EAST AT 25 TO 30 MPH. PARADISE IS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM. TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY! DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. CARS ARE EASILY TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Oct 23, 11:08 AM CDT, 5 hours 58 minutes before
TXZ147-148-156>162-174-175-231815- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 1108 AM CDT THU OCT 23 1997 ...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT SOUTH OF A GOLDTHWAITE TO HILLSBORO TO TYLER LINE UNTIL 3 PM... AT 1108 AM...NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS WERE IN EFFECT. THE STORMS THAT PRODUCED HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS IN BELL AND FALLS COUNTIES HAS MOVED EAST AND WEAKENED IN HENDERSON AND FREESTONE COUNTIES. HOWEVER...ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING TO THE WEST OF THE AREA...AND THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER FOR THE REGION...INCLUDING TORNADOES...EXIST THIS AFTERNOON. REMAIN ALERT AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT WORTH.
Special weather statement, Oct 23, 11:14 AM CDT, 5 hours 52 minutes before
TXZ147-148-156>162-174-175-231815- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 1108 AM CDT THU OCT 23 1997 ...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT SOUTH OF A GOLDTHWAITE TO HILLSBORO TO TYLER LINE UNTIL 3 PM... AT 1108 AM...NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS WERE IN EFFECT. THE STORMS THAT PRODUCED HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF QUARTERS IN BELL AND FALLS COUNTIES HAS MOVED EAST AND WEAKENED IN HENDERSON AND FREESTONE COUNTIES. HOWEVER...ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING TO THE WEST OF THE AREA...AND THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER FOR THE REGION...INCLUDING TORNADOES...EXIST THIS AFTERNOON. REMAIN ALERT AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS ISSUED BY THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT WORTH.
Local storm report, Oct 23, 4:04 PM CDT, 1 hour 2 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
404 PM CDT THU OCT 23 1997
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0355 PM MERIDIAN TX 70 MPH TSTM GUST
10/23/97 BOSQUE ESTIMATED 70 MPH WINDS BY
RED CROSS
0358 PM ENNIS TX 1.75 INCH HAIL
10/23/97 ELLIS GOLFBALL HAIL DOWNTOWNLocal storm report, Oct 23, 4:05 PM CDT, 1 hour 1 minute before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
404 PM CDT THU OCT 23 1997
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0355 PM MERIDIAN TX 70 MPH TSTM GUST
10/23/97 BOSQUE ESTIMATED 70 MPH WINDS BY
RED CROSS
0358 PM ENNIS TX 1.75 INCH HAIL 0
10/23/97 ELLIS GOLFBALL HAIL DOWNTOWNThe office that day
Everything else NWS Fort Worth, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 23, 9:03 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Bell | 57 min |
| Oct 23, 9:45 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Falls | 60 min |
| Oct 23, 10:22 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Johnson, Tarrant | 98 min |
| Oct 23, 10:24 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Limestone | 66 min |
| Oct 23, 10:36 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Dallas, Ellis | 2 hr |
| Oct 23, 11:42 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Hill | 2 hr |
| Oct 23, 12:01 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Bosque, Hamilton | 119 min |
| Oct 23, 2:29 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Bosque | 46 min |
| Oct 23, 2:36 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FWD | Bosque | 54 min |
| Oct 23, 2:45 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FWD | Hill | 45 min |
| Oct 23, 3:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Ellis | 57 min |
| Oct 23, 3:29 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Bosque, Hill | 61 min |
| Oct 23, 4:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Kaufman | 60 min |
| Oct 23, 4:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Jack | 59 min |
| Oct 23, 4:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Navarro | 67 min |
| Oct 23, 4:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Montague, Wise | 64 min |
| Oct 23, 4:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Bosque, Hill | 60 min |
| Oct 23, 4:49 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Hill, Navarro | 116 min |
| Oct 23, 4:49 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Bosque | 116 min |
| Oct 23, 5:12 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FWD | Anderson | 33 min |
| Oct 23, 5:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Henderson | 26 min |
| Oct 23, 5:38 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Denton | 67 min |
| Oct 23, 5:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Navarro | 53 min |
| Oct 23, 6:36 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Navarro | 84 min |
| Oct 23, 6:43 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Freestone | 62 min |
| Oct 23, 6:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Navarro | 29 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.