Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 37, NWS Wichita, KS

October 8, 1997Marion County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at Oct 8, 1997, 4:55 PM CDT for Marion County, Kansas. It was in force for 35 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
Oct 8, 1997, 4:55 PM CDT (21:55 UTC)
Expired
Oct 8, 1997, 5:30 PM CDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Wichita, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Marion County, KS

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:58 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 nearest sounding before it

Topeka, KS (KTOP), launched 12:00Z, 9.9 hours before the alert went out and 145 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 12:00Z on 1997-10-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 540 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 12:00Z on 1997-10-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 166 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
540 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
624 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
166 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
184 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
1.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

446 
WFUS1 KICT 082157 RRA
TORICT
KSC115-082230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
455 PM CDT WED OCT 8 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  NORTHEASTERN MARION COUNTY - SOUTH CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 530 PM CDT
 
* SOME TOWNS AFFECTED
    RAMONA
    LOST SPRINGS

* AT 455 PM LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED A TORNADO 2 MILES NORTH
  OF LICOLNVILLE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR
LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

NOONAN
 

&

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.