Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Wichita, KS

May 25, 1997Sumner County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at May 25, 1997, 7:40 PM CDT for Sumner County, Kansas. It was in force for 60 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 25, 1997, 7:40 PM CDT (00:40 UTC)
Expired
May 25, 1997, 8:40 PM CDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Wichita, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Sumner County, KS

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:41 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 25, 8:00 PM CDTHail 1.75Milan, KS
May 25, 8:35 PM CDTTornado F2Perth, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 25, 3:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 222 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, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 1997-05-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 917 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, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 1997-05-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 6 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
917 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1641 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
75 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

909 
WFUS1 KICT 260040 RRA
TORICT
KSC191-260140-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
740 PM CDT SUN MAY 25 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  SUMNER COUNTY - SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 840 PM CDT
 
* SOME TOWNS AFFECTED
    SUPPESVILLE
    MILTON
    ARGONIA
    MILAN

* AT 740 PM RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR NORWICH...OR 20 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF WICHITA AND ANOTHER TORNADO 5 MILES SOUTEAST OF
  FREEPORT...OR 30 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WICHITA BOTH TORNADOES
  ARE MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS STORM.  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
STURDIER BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

KIRKWOOD

The office that day

Everything else NWS Wichita, KS issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 25, 7:02 PM CDTTornado WarningICTKingman63 min
May 25, 7:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMcPherson64 min
May 25, 7:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTHarper63 min
May 25, 7:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTHarvey63 min
May 25, 7:17 PM CDTTornado WarningICTHarper63 min
May 25, 7:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMarion62 min
May 25, 7:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSaline47 min
May 25, 7:39 PM CDTTornado WarningICTHarvey61 min
May 25, 8:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTChase, Marion65 min
May 25, 8:34 PM CDTTornado WarningICTButler61 min
May 25, 8:39 PM CDTTornado WarningICTSumner61 min
May 25, 8:42 PM CDTTornado WarningICTHarvey33 min
May 25, 9:11 PM CDTTornado WarningICTCowley59 min
May 25, 9:30 PM CDTTornado WarningICTButler60 min
May 25, 9:36 PM CDTTornado WarningICTSumner44 min
May 25, 9:40 PM CDTTornado WarningICTGreenwood65 min
May 25, 10:08 PM CDTTornado WarningICTChautauqua, Cowley62 min
May 25, 10:39 PM CDTTornado WarningICTGreenwood, Woodson61 min
May 25, 11:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTAllen64 min
May 25, 11:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTChautauqua, Montgomery63 min
May 25, 11:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTNeosho51 min
May 26, 6:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTChautauqua62 min
May 26, 6:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMontgomery61 min
May 26, 6:25 PM CDTTornado WarningICTChautauqua60 min
May 26, 6:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTCowley61 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.