Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 25, NWS Wichita, KS

May 26, 1997Cowley County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at May 26, 1997, 7:36 PM CDT for Cowley County, Kansas. It was in force for 49 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 26, 1997, 7:36 PM CDT (00:36 UTC)
Expired
May 26, 1997, 8:25 PM CDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Wichita, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Cowley County, KS

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 71 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:39 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.

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

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 00:00Z, 0.6 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, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 1997-05-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 8 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, Topeka, KS at 00:00Z on 1997-05-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 88 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
8 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-643 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
553 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
65 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
88 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
190 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.

570 
WFUS1 KICT 270037 RRA
TORICT
KSC035-270125-

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

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  COWLEY COUNTY - SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 825 PM CDT
 
* SOME TOWNS AFFECTED
    ARKANSAS CITY
    SILVERDALE

* AT 735 PM RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 8 MILES NORTHWEST OF ARKANSAS
  CITY NEAR GEUDA SPRINGS MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO
TO A STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A
TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

PETERSEN

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 26, 7:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSedgwick63 min
May 26, 7:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTChautauqua, Montgomery62 min
May 26, 7:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTButler56 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.