Alert archive / Kentucky / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Louisville, KY

March 28, 1997Green County, Larue County, Kentucky

NWS Louisville, KY issued this tornado warning at Mar 28, 1997, 6:17 PM CST for Green County, Larue County, Kentucky. It was in force for 43 min. 3 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
Mar 28, 1997, 6:17 PM CST (00:17 UTC)
Expired
Mar 28, 1997, 7:00 PM CST
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Louisville, KY
Area
Whole counties

Counties Green County, KY, Larue County, KY

The radar

The Louisville radar (KLVX), 69 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:18 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 28, 6:22 PM CSTTornado F3Magnolia, KY
Mar 28, 6:25 PM CSTTornado F2Creal, KY
Mar 28, 6:31 PM CSTTornado F2Creal, KY

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
Mar 28, 5:00 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Nashville Metro, TN (KBNA), launched 00:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 166 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1997-03-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1331 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, Nashville Metro, TN at 00:00Z on 1997-03-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 223 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
1331 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1544 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
223 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
390 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.1
Supercell composite
11.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSDF 290019 RRA
TORSDF
KYC123-087-290100-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
717 PM EST FRI MAR 28 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LOUISVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM EST
FOR PERSONS IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY
 
   ...SOUTHERN LARUE COUNTY
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL KENTUCKY
 
   ...NORTHERN GREEN COUNTY
 
AT 715 PM EST/615 PM CST...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
PRODUCING A POSSIBLE TORNADO 45 MILES SOUTH OF LOUISVILLE. THIS TORNADO
WILL REACH MT SHERMAN AND CREAL BY 730 PM EST/630 PM CST.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OzR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
COX

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Mar 28, 6:00 PM CST, 17 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
700 PM EST FRI MAR 28 1997

TIME EST   .....CITY LOCATION.....    STATE    ...EVENT...
 DATE      ....COUNTY LOCATION....            ...REMARKS...

654 PM                                KY       TORNADO ON GROUND
3/28/97     HARDIN                             ONE HOME DESTROYED
                                               OTHER HOMES DAMAGED
                                               IN ELIZABETHTOWN
RL
Local storm report, Mar 28, 6:02 PM CST, 15 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LOUISVILLE KY
700 PM EST FRI MAR 28 1997

TIME EST   .....CITY LOCATION.....    STATE    ...EVENT...
 DATE      ....COUNTY LOCATION....            ...REMARKS...

654 PM                                KY       TORNADO ON GROUND
3/28/97     HARDIN                             ONE HOME DESTROYED
                                               OTHER HOMES DAMAGED
                                   D            IN ELIZABETHTOWN
RL

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 28, 6:02 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKTrimble43 min
Mar 28, 6:05 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKBarren, Warren55 min
Mar 28, 6:07 PM CSTTornado WarningLMKHart38 min
Mar 28, 6:15 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKJefferson45 min
Mar 28, 6:31 PM CSTTornado WarningLMKAllen, Barren44 min
Mar 28, 6:35 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKGreen40 min
Mar 28, 6:36 PM CSTTornado WarningLMKMarion39 min
Mar 28, 6:39 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKOldham, Trimble36 min
Mar 28, 7:00 PM CSTTornado WarningLMKMetcalfe30 min
Mar 28, 7:05 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKAnderson, Mercer, Woodford40 min
Mar 28, 7:11 PM CSTTornado WarningLMKAdair49 min
Mar 28, 7:23 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningLMKHardin, Nelson67 min
Mar 28, 7:23 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKHardin, Nelson67 min
Mar 28, 7:28 PM CSTTornado WarningLMKCasey47 min
Mar 28, 7:35 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKJefferson, Oldham40 min
Mar 28, 7:49 PM CSTTornado WarningLMKRussell41 min
Mar 28, 7:50 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKCumberland40 min
Mar 28, 7:53 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKBullitt, Spencer52 min
Mar 28, 7:53 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKHenry, Shelby52 min
Mar 28, 7:53 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKTrimble52 min
Mar 28, 7:58 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKTaylor32 min
Mar 28, 8:00 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKBreckinridge, Hancock, Ohio45 min
Mar 28, 8:06 PM CSTTornado WarningLMKJefferson, Oldham, Shelby39 min
Mar 28, 8:12 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKAllen, Barren33 min
Mar 28, 8:21 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKCasey39 min
Mar 28, 8:38 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKLogan, Simpson, Warren37 min
Mar 28, 8:40 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKHart35 min
Mar 28, 8:44 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKLincoln31 min
Mar 28, 8:46 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKAnderson, Franklin44 min
Mar 28, 8:52 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKGreen, Larue, Taylor38 min
Mar 28, 8:55 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKBoyle, Mercer35 min
Mar 28, 9:06 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKGarrard, Madison39 min
Mar 28, 9:07 PM CSTTornado WarningLMKGarrard, Madison38 min
Mar 28, 9:07 PM CSTTornado WarningLMKLincoln38 min
Mar 28, 9:10 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKClinton, Cumberland35 min
Mar 28, 9:14 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKMarion, Washington31 min
Mar 28, 9:17 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKGrayson28 min
Mar 28, 9:21 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKBourbon, Fayette, Jessamine54 min
Mar 28, 9:21 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKHarrison, Nicholas54 min
Mar 28, 9:25 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKButler, Logan, Warren35 min
Mar 28, 9:30 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKHardin, Larue, Nelson30 min
Mar 28, 9:39 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningLMKMercer36 min
Mar 28, 9:39 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKMercer36 min
Mar 28, 9:41 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKClark, Madison34 min
Mar 28, 9:53 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKEdmonson37 min
Mar 28, 9:55 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKBarren, Metcalfe35 min
Mar 28, 10:14 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKBarren, Hart31 min
Mar 28, 10:28 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLMKGreen, Taylor47 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.