Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 23, NWS Wichita, KS
NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at May 25, 1997, 10:39 PM CDT for Greenwood County, Woodson County, Kansas. It was in force for 61 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 25, 1997, 10:39 PM CDT (03:39 UTC)
- Expired
- May 25, 1997, 11:40 PM CDT
- In force
- 61 min
- Issued by
- NWS Wichita, KS
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Greenwood County, KS, Woodson County, KS
The radar
The Topeka radar (KTWX), 126 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:39 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 25, 10:43 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Neal, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 25, 8:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 3.7 hours before the alert went out and 128 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
- 982 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -15 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1108 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 36 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 36 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 183 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.3
- Supercell composite
- 1.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KICT 260338
TORICT
KSC073-207-260440-
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
1039 PM CDT SUN MAY 25 1997
* TORNADO WARNING FOR
EASTERN GREENWOOD COUNTY - SOUTHEAST KANSAS
WOODSON COUNTY - SOUTHEAST KANSAS
* UNTIL 1140 PM CDT
* SOME TOWNS AFFECTED
NEAL
TORONTO STATE PARK
BATESVILLE
YATES CENTER
* AT 1037 RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES EAST
OF EUREKA MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH. THIS STORM HAS A HISTORY OF
PRODUCING TORNADOES. A TORNADO MAY TOUCH DOWN AT ANY TIME FROM
THIS STORM.
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A STAIRWELL 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.
WINDS TO 75 MPH WERE REPORTED WITH THIS STORM JUST EAST OF EUREKA
HOWERTON
T
&The office that day
Everything else NWS Wichita, KS issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 25, 7:02 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Kingman | 63 min |
| May 25, 7:06 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | McPherson | 64 min |
| May 25, 7:07 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Harper | 63 min |
| May 25, 7:12 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Harvey | 63 min |
| May 25, 7:17 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Harper | 63 min |
| May 25, 7:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Marion | 62 min |
| May 25, 7:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Saline | 47 min |
| May 25, 7:39 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Harvey | 61 min |
| May 25, 7:40 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Sumner | 60 min |
| May 25, 8:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Chase, Marion | 65 min |
| May 25, 8:34 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Butler | 61 min |
| May 25, 8:39 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Sumner | 61 min |
| May 25, 8:42 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Harvey | 33 min |
| May 25, 9:11 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Cowley | 59 min |
| May 25, 9:30 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Butler | 60 min |
| May 25, 9:36 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Sumner | 44 min |
| May 25, 9:40 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Greenwood | 65 min |
| May 25, 10:08 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Chautauqua, Cowley | 62 min |
| May 25, 11:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Allen | 64 min |
| May 25, 11:07 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Chautauqua, Montgomery | 63 min |
| May 25, 11:54 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Neosho | 51 min |
| May 26, 6:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Chautauqua | 62 min |
| May 26, 6:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Montgomery | 61 min |
| May 26, 6:25 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | ICT | Chautauqua | 60 min |
| May 26, 6:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ICT | Cowley | 61 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.