Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 15, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

May 8, 1997Andrews County, Gaines County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at May 8, 1997, 8:18 PM CDT for Andrews County, Gaines County, Texas. It was in force for 32 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: May 8, 1997, 8:18 PM CDT (01:18 UTC)
Expired: May 8, 1997, 8:50 PM CDT
In force: 32 min
Issued by: NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area: Whole counties

Counties Andrews County, TX, Gaines County, TX

The radar

The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:22 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 8, 8:26 PM CDT	Tornado F1	Andrews, TX	Tornado formed about 4.5 miles west of the intersection of U.S. Highway 385 and FM 1967. Reported by SKYWARN spotter. This storm entered from Gaines County and became a supercell. The storm was moving to the right of the upper flow, partly due to its depende

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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 8, 6:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 00:00Z, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 76 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 2593 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1718 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 5 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 41 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.1
Supercell composite: 1.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

879 
WFUS1 KMAF 090118 RRA
TORMAF
TXC003-165-090150-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
818 PM CDT THU MAY 8 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND TX HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 850 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN NORTHWESTERN TEXAS

   ...NORTHERN ANDREWS COUNTY
   ...SOUTHERN GAINES COUNTY
 
AT 815 PM CDT...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY MIDLAND
DOPPLER RADAR 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF ANDREWS MOVING SOUTH AT
10 MPH.

THE TORNADO IS CURRENTLY EXPECTED TO REACH FLOREY BY 830 PM.

DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A
TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO STURDY
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SAFETY IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.



TJT

The office that day

Everything else NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 8, 7:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Gaines	50 min
May 8, 7:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Scurry	45 min
May 8, 7:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Borden, Dawson	49 min
May 8, 7:58 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Scurry	47 min
May 8, 8:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Ector	49 min
May 8, 8:45 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MAF	Andrews, Gaines	35 min
May 8, 9:26 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MAF	Gaines	49 min
May 8, 9:29 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Andrews	46 min
May 8, 10:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Martin	46 min
May 9, 12:02 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Ector	63 min
May 9, 12:19 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Glasscock	46 min
May 9, 1:03 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Midland	47 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.