Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 29, NWS Wichita, KS

June 29, 1997Butler County, Greenwood County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at Jun 29, 1997, 6:19 PM CDT for Butler County, Greenwood County, Kansas. It was in force for 66 min. 3 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: Jun 29, 1997, 6:19 PM CDT (23:19 UTC)
Expired: Jun 29, 1997, 7:25 PM CDT
In force: 66 min
Issued by: NWS Wichita, KS
Area: Whole counties

Counties Butler County, KS, Greenwood County, KS

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 82 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:20 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
Jun 29, 6:28 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 61	Cassoday, KS	RADIO TOWER, 192 FEET TALL, TIPPED OVER, LANDING ON TOP OF GAS STATION.
Jun 29, 7:12 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 65	El Dorado, KS
Jun 29, 7:18 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 61	Potwin, 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
Jun 29, 5:30 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 152 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 977 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -97 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 945 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -32 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -29 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.

516 
WFUS1 KICT 292321 RRA
TORICT
KSC015-073-300025-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
619 PM CDT SUN JUN 29 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  NORTHEAST BUTLER COUNTY - SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS
  NORTHERN GREENWOOD COUNTY - SOUTHEAST KANSAS

* UNTIL 725 PM CDT
 
* SOME TOWNS AFFECTED
    CASSODAY
    THRALL
    HAMILTON

* AT 617 PM RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR CASSODAY OR 15 MILES
NORTHEAST OF EL DORADO MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

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.

RENO

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jun 29, 4:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Kingman	64 min
Jun 29, 5:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Harper, Sumner	64 min
Jun 29, 5:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	McPherson	59 min
Jun 29, 5:32 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	McPherson	63 min
Jun 29, 5:57 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	Sumner	63 min
Jun 29, 6:07 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	Harper	63 min
Jun 29, 6:14 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Harvey	61 min
Jun 29, 6:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Butler, Sedgwick	60 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kansas, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.