Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Wichita, KS

May 25, 1997Ellsworth County, Kansas

NWS Wichita, KS issued this tornado warning at May 25, 1997, 5:20 PM CDT for Ellsworth 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 25, 1997, 5:20 PM CDT (22:20 UTC)
Expired
May 25, 1997, 6:20 PM CDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Wichita, KS
Area
Whole counties

County Ellsworth County, KS

The radar

The Wichita radar (KICT), 134 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:20 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 25, 5:35 PM CDTHail 2.75Blackwolf, KS
May 25, 5:35 PM CDTTornado F0Holyrood, KS
May 25, 5:36 PM CDTTornado F0Ellsworth, KS
May 25, 6:15 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 61Geneseo, KS
May 25, 6:30 PM CDTTornado F0Holyrood, 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 25, 3:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 12:00Z, 10.3 hours before the alert went out and 180 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, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 1997-05-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 313 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, Dodge City, at 12:00Z on 1997-05-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 90 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
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.

000 
TTAA00 KICT 252220 RRA
TORICT
KSC053-252320-

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

* TORNADO WARNING FOR
  ELLSWORTH COUNTY - CENTRAL KANSAS

* UNTIL 620 PM CDT
 
* SOME TOWNS AFFECTED
    BETWEEN BLACK WOLF AND HOLYROOD

* AT 521 PM LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED A TORNADO 30 MILES
  NORTHEAST OF GREAT BEND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 10 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.

HOWERTON

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 25, 3:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTRussell58 min
May 25, 4:20 PM CDTTornado WarningICTBarton, Russell55 min
May 25, 5:11 PM CDTTornado WarningICTRussell49 min
May 25, 5:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTEllsworth62 min
May 25, 5:18 PM CDTTornado WarningICTBarton47 min
May 25, 5:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTRice60 min
May 25, 6:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTRussell60 min
May 25, 6:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTMcPherson63 min
May 25, 6:15 PM CDTTornado WarningICTEllsworth60 min
May 25, 6:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTSaline58 min
May 25, 6:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTReno59 min
May 25, 6:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningICTKingman60 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.