Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 20, NWS Hastings, NE
NWS Hastings, NE issued this tornado warning at Aug 21, 1997, 9:59 PM CDT for Rooks County, Kansas. 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
- Aug 21, 1997, 9:59 PM CDT (02:59 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 21, 1997, 10:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 46 min
- Issued by
- NWS Hastings, NE
- Area
- Whole counties
County Rooks County, KS
The radar
The Grand Island radar (KUEX), 132 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:59 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 21, 10:35 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Codell, KS |
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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 21, 9:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 00:00Z, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 183 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
- 3676 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -35 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1196 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 49 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 151 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 246 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 4.0
- Supercell composite
- 21.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KGRI 220302 RRA TORGRI KSC163-220345- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 959 PM CDT THU AUG 21 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HASTINGS NE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1045 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS ...SOUTHERN ROOKS COUNTY PEOPLE IN PLAINVILLE...PALCO AND ZURICH SHOULD MOVE TO THEIR TORNADO SHELTERS IMMEDIATELY. AT 955 PM...RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WAS LOCATED 4 MILES NORTH OF PLAINVILLE MOVING SOUTH AT 20 MPH. THIS WARNING REPLACES THE TORNADO WARNING FOR NORTHERN ROOKS COUNTY WHICH EXPIRES AT 10 PM. THE TORNADO WARNING ISSUED EARLIER FOR SOUTHERN OSBORNE COUNTY WILL EXPIRE AT 10 PM. PERSONS IN THE WARNED AREA SHOULD TAKE SHELTER IN A BASEMENT IF AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. CARS AND MOBILE HOMES SHOULD BE ABANDONED. SCHURR
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.
NWS Hastings, NE wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Aug 21, 2:39 PM CDT, 7 hours 20 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 21, 2:39 PM CDT, 7 hours 20 minutes before
CENTRAL NEBRASKA/NORTH CENTRAL KANSAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HASTINGS NE 238 PM CDT THU AUG 21 1997 THUNDERSTORMS MAIN CONCERN AGAIN THIS PACKAGE IN NW FLOW ALOFT. WILL BEGIN FORECAST DISCUSSION WITH YESTERDAYS MODEL RUNS. THEY INDCTD IMPRESSIVE ISENT LIFT OVER SW FA BY THU MORNING. 1.25 IN PCPTBL H2O VALUES WERE LIFTED TO SATURATION ALONG FAVORED 570 THICKNESS CONTOUR WHICH RUNS RIGHT THROUGH SVR WX AREA THIS MORNING AS PER K0K. ON GOING ELEVATED CONVECTION ATTM ALSO NEAR 570 TKNS CONTOUR AS PER K1K AS 1.25 IN CONTS TO BE LIFTED AS PER P03. ALSO COMING INTO PLAY TAFTN IS A JET MAX RIDING NW-SE ACROSS MN/IA AD H7 S/W BOTH PER 12Z UA/PROFS. THESE FEATURES HARD TO DISCERN ON WV IMGRY. THESE STORMS SHOULD CONT INTO EARLY EVENING GRADUALLY SINKING SWD. WHAT IS MORE EVIDENT ON SATELLITE ARE OUTFLOW BNDRIES FROM MORNING TRWS AND NW NEBR S/W WITH IMPRESSIVE DRYING AS PER GLD AFD. THESE SHUD COMBINE WITH MST/UNSTABLE AIR FOR TSTMS THIS EVENING NEBR AND INTO THE NIGHT KS. ALTHOUGH CELL MOVEMENTS QUICK...SOME TRAINING AS OCCURRED THIS MORNING...COULD PRODUCE HEAVY AMOUNTS AND WILL MENTION IN KS TNGT. WILL ALSO MENTION PSBLTY OF SVR WX OVER WRN SECTIONS OF FA CLOSER WHERE SHEAR PROFILES AND HIGHER INSTABILITIES WARRANT HIGHER SVR WX THREAT. MODELS HAVE A TOUGH TIME WITH THIS NW FLOW SO CANT SAY THAT ANY DO A FANTASTIC JOB. NGM DID INITIALIZE VVEL FAIRLY WELL THIS MORNING. WILL GO WITH TYPICAL BLEND OF MODELS USING WV IMGRY EXTRAPOLATION TO GET SOME SEMBLANCE OF TIMING OF PSBL TSTMS FOR OUT PDS. IT APPEARS THAT AFTER TNGT...NEXT CHC COMES AGAIN FRI AND INTO THE EVENING AS A PORTION OF IGNACIO COMES DOWN FRONT SIDE OF UPPER RIDGE. NGM HINTS AT THE RESULTING PRECIP BEST BUT MAY BE A LITTLE SLOW WITH TIMING. WILL GO WITH SMALL POPS FRI/FRI NGT AND LEAVE SAT DRY ATTM AS THERE SHOULD BE SOME BREAK BETWEEN WAVES AFTER TROP SYS REMNANT PASSES. TEMPS FRIDAY PROBABLY A TAD WARMER THAN TODAY WITH ERLY AM TSTMS NOT FCST. SATURDAY REMAINS UP IN THE AIR BUT WILL GO EVEN A LITTLE MORE WARMER AS UPPER RIDGE BUILDS/SHIFTS SLGTLY EWD. FWC/FAN BLEND RSNBL EXCEPT THAT MINS ARE A LITTLE ON THE COOL SIDE GIVEN CURRENT DEW POINTS. . GRI BB 064/082/064/085 4331 ODX BB 061/083/063/085 3331 LXN BB 063/084/062/086 4331 HBR BB 065/083/065/085 4331 BEL BB 067/084/066/086 5331 DROZD
The office that day
Everything else NWS Hastings, NE issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 21, 8:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Osborne | 44 min |
| Aug 21, 9:06 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Phillips, Rooks | 54 min |
| Aug 21, 9:11 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Rooks | 49 min |
| Aug 21, 9:17 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GID | Osborne | 43 min |
| Aug 21, 9:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Phillips | 44 min |
| Aug 21, 10:51 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | GID | Osborne, Rooks | 4 hr |
| Aug 21, 11:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GID | Jewell | 49 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 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.