Alert archive / Kentucky / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 165, NWS Louisville, KY

August 17, 1997Fayette County, Kentucky

NWS Louisville, KY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 17, 1997, 2:40 PM EDT for Fayette County, Kentucky. It was in force for 50 min. 1 report 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
Aug 17, 1997, 2:40 PM EDT (18:40 UTC)
Expired
Aug 17, 1997, 3:30 PM EDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Louisville, KY
Area
Whole counties

County Fayette County, KY

The radar

The Jackson,KY radar (KJKL), 112 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:42 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
Aug 17, 2:55 PM EDTThunderstorm Wind 50Lexington, KYPolice reported several trees and power lines down.

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
Aug 17, 2:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 12:00Z, 6.7 hours before the alert went out and 165 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 12:00Z on 1997-08-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 39 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 12:00Z on 1997-08-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 51 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
39 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-211 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
934 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
51 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
131 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.

455 
WUUS1 KSDF 171841 RRA
SVRSDF
KYC067-171930-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
240 PM EDT SUN AUG 17 1997

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR
  FAYETTE COUNTY - EAST CENTRAL KENTUCKY

* UNTIL 330 PM EDT
 
* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED
  METRO LEXINGTON IMMEDIATELY
  GREENDALE AND MATTOXTOWN BEFORE 300 PM EDT

* AT 240 PM EDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5
MILES NORTHWEST OF LEXINGTON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

LARGE HAIL AND WINDS ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM.

IF YOU ARE OUTSIDE OR IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM...SEEK SHELTER INSIDE
A STRONG BUILDING. AVOID WINDOWS AND STAY OFF THE TELEPHONE UNTIL
THE STORM HAS PASSED.



DEWALD

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 17, 3:21 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKNicholas24 min
Aug 17, 6:25 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKClark, Fayette35 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kentucky, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.