Alert archive / California / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Los Angeles, CA

January 15, 1997Santa Barbara County, California

NWS Los Angeles, CA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 15, 1997, 2:45 PM PST for Santa Barbara County, California. 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
Jan 15, 1997, 2:45 PM PST (22:45 UTC)
Expired
Jan 15, 1997, 3:30 PM PST
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Los Angeles, CA
Area
Whole counties

County Santa Barbara County, CA

The radar

The Vandenberg AFB radar (KVBX), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:44 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

Vandenberg AFB, CA (KVBG), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 48 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, Vandenberg AFB, CA at 12:00Z on 1997-01-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 109 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, Vandenberg AFB, CA at 12:00Z on 1997-01-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 41 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
109 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
697 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
41 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLAX 152248
SVRLAX
CAC083-152330-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OXNARD CA
245 PM PST WED JAN 15 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN OXNARD HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING  EFFECTIVE UNTIL  330 PM PST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN SOUTH CALIFORNIA
 
   ...NORTHERN SANTA BARBARA COUNTY
 
AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS.
 
 
AT 245 PM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF
SANTA MARIA NEAR HIGHWAY 166. THE STORM IS MOVING TO THE EAST SOUTHEAST
AT ABOUT 10 MPH. THE STORM IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG WINDS THAT
MAY AFFECT THE COMMUNITIES GAREY AND SISQUOC WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR.
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in California, 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.