Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 24, NWS Wichita, KS

May 26, 1997Chautauqua County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at May 26, 1997, 6:25 PM CDT for Chautauqua County, Kansas. It was in force for 60 min. 5 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 26, 1997, 6:25 PM CDT (23:25 UTC)
Expired
May 26, 1997, 7:25 PM CDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Wichita, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Chautauqua County, KS

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 120 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:29 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 26, 6:25 PM CDTHail 0.88Cedar Vale, KS
May 26, 6:38 PM CDTHail 1Cedar Vale, KS
May 26, 7:02 PM CDTHail 2.5Cedar Vale, KS
May 26, 7:20 PM CDTHail 0.75Cedar Vale, KS
May 26, 7:25 PM CDTHail 0.75Sedan, 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 26, 6:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lamont, OK (KLMN), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 125 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, Lamont, OK at 12:00Z on 1997-05-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 270 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, Lamont, OK at 12:00Z on 1997-05-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 41 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
270 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-356 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1270 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
63 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
41 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
141 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KICT 262325 RRA
TORICT
KSC019-270025-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
625 PM CDT MON MAY 26 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  CHAUTAUQUA COUNTY - SOUTHEAST KANSAS

* UNTIL 725 PM CDT
 
* SOME TOWNS AFFECTED
    CEDAR VALE
    WAUNETA
    HEWINS

* AT 620 PM RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR CEDAR VALE OR 25 MILES
  EAST OF ARKANSAS CITY MOVING NORTHEAST AT 10 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.

RUNYAN

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, 7:40 PM CDTTornado WarningICTSumner60 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, 6:44 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.