Alert archive / Kentucky / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Jackson, KY

March 2, 1997Rockcastle County, Kentucky

NWS Jackson, KY issued this tornado warning at Mar 2, 1997, 1:15 AM EST for Rockcastle County, Kentucky. It was in force for 45 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
Mar 2, 1997, 1:15 AM EST (06:15 UTC)
Expired
Mar 2, 1997, 2:00 AM EST
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Jackson, KY
Area
Whole counties

County Rockcastle County, KY

The radar

The Jackson,KY radar (KJKL), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:18 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

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 00:00Z, 6.3 hours before the alert went out and 234 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 1997-03-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 00:00Z on 1997-03-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 268 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
607 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
75 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
268 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
179 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 KJKL 020616 RRA
TORJKL
KYC203-020700-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE JACKSON KY
115 AM EST SUN MAR 2 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN JACKSON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 200 AM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...

IN SOUTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY

   ...ROCKCASTLE
 
AT 115 AM...LAW ENFORCEMENT OFFICIALS REPORTED FUNNEL CLOUDS NEAR
WILLAILLA...OR 20 MILES NORTH OF SOMERSET.  IT WAS MOVING EAST
AT 50 MPH. RESIDENTS OF MOUNT VERNON... RENFRO VALLEY...AND PINEHILL
SHOULD BE IN THEIR BASEMENTS.  

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  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.

INGRAM

The office that day

Everything else NWS Jackson, KY issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 2, 12:20 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLPowell40 min
Mar 2, 12:20 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLWayne40 min
Mar 2, 12:44 AM ESTTornado WarningJKLPowell46 min
Mar 2, 12:48 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLRockcastle47 min
Mar 2, 12:57 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningJKLBath, Fleming, Menifee, Montgomery, Rowan4 hr
Mar 2, 12:57 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningJKLEstill, Powell4 hr
Mar 2, 1:01 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLFleming34 min
Mar 2, 1:19 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLEstill, Jackson, Laurel61 min
Mar 2, 1:19 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLMenifee, Powell61 min
Mar 2, 1:25 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLLee, Wolfe35 min
Mar 2, 1:25 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLMorgan35 min
Mar 2, 1:28 AM ESTTornado WarningJKLMenifee, Montgomery, Powell47 min
Mar 2, 1:33 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLBreathitt, Owsley47 min
Mar 2, 1:34 AM ESTTornado WarningJKLMorgan61 min
Mar 2, 1:36 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningJKLElliott, Morgan3 hr
Mar 2, 1:36 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningJKLLee, Wolfe3 hr
Mar 2, 1:38 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLRowan47 min
Mar 2, 1:45 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLElliott30 min
Mar 2, 1:51 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningJKLMagoffin5 hr
Mar 2, 1:54 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLJohnson, Magoffin46 min
Mar 2, 2:08 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningJKLJohnson5 hr
Mar 2, 2:11 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLFloyd, Martin34 min
Mar 2, 2:24 AM ESTSevere Thunderstorm WarningJKLKnott36 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Kentucky, 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.