Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Wichita, KS

May 25, 1997Barton County, Russell County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at May 25, 1997, 4:20 PM CDT for Barton County, Russell County, Kansas. It was in force for 55 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 25, 1997, 4:20 PM CDT (21:20 UTC)
Expired: May 25, 1997, 5:15 PM CDT
In force: 55 min
Issued by: NWS Wichita, KS
Area: Whole counties

Counties Barton County, KS, Russell County, KS

The radar

The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 148 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:24 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
May 25, 4:20 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Highway 281, KS
May 25, 4:25 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Milberger, KS
May 25, 4:25 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Milberger, KS
May 25, 5:10 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Claflin, KS
May 25, 5:16 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Claflin, 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, 3:30 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 143 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: 313 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -166 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1225 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 90 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 88 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.

695 
WFUS1 KICT 252119 RRA
TORICT
KSC009-167-252215-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA KS
420 PM CDT SUN MAY 25 1997

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  NORTHERN BARTON COUNTY - CENTRAL KANSAS
  RUSSELL COUNTY - CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 515 PM CDT
 
* SOME TOWNS AFFECTED
    JUST NORTH OF GALATIA
    MILEBURGER

* AT 415 PM RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 3.5 MILES NORTH OF
  GALATIA...OR 30 MILES SOUTHWEST OF RUSSELL MOVING NORTHEAST AT 5
  MPH. AT 410 PM...TRAINED SPOTTERS REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD 3.5
  MILES NORTH OF GALATIA.

* THIS REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR RUSSELL COUNTY.

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.

KIRKWOOD
 

&

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 25, 3:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Russell	58 min
May 25, 5:11 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	Russell	49 min
May 25, 5:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Ellsworth	62 min
May 25, 5:18 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	Barton	47 min
May 25, 5:20 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	Ellsworth	60 min
May 25, 5:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Rice	60 min
May 25, 6:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Russell	60 min
May 25, 6:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	McPherson	63 min
May 25, 6:15 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	ICT	Ellsworth	60 min
May 25, 6:32 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Saline	58 min
May 25, 6:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Reno	59 min
May 25, 6:50 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	ICT	Kingman	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.