Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 45, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

June 14, 1997Ector County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 14, 1997, 4:10 PM CDT for Ector County, Texas. It was in force for 35 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
Jun 14, 1997, 4:10 PM CDT (21:10 UTC)
Expired
Jun 14, 1997, 4:45 PM CDT
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Ector County, TX

The radar

The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 34 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:10 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
Jun 14, 4:15 PM CDTHail 2.75Gardendale, TXA storm that developed over northern Ector County briefly showed supercell-type characteristics and dropped baseball hail on Gardendale.

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
Jun 14, 2:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 12:00Z, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 34 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, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 1997-06-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1499 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 1997-06-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 108 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1499 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-185 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1370 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
108 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
176 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
4.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMAF 142110 RRA
TORMAF
TXC135-142145-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
410 PM CDT SAT JUN 14 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND TX HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 445 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS

   ...NORTHERN ECTOR COUNTY
 
AT 409 PM CDT...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY MIDLAND
DOPPLER RADAR AND SPOTTER REPORTS IN THE VICINITY OF ODESSA MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 10 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE... SCHARBAUER CITY
AND GARDENDALE.  SPOTTER HAVE REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD 5 MILES NORTH
OF ODESSA.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SAFETY IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK REFUGE IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW
SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.


RRF/TWE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 14, 3:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFAndrews50 min
Jun 14, 3:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFGaines49 min
Jun 14, 3:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFAndrews49 min
Jun 14, 3:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEctor34 min
Jun 14, 4:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFBorden49 min
Jun 14, 4:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFGaines47 min
Jun 14, 4:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEctor48 min
Jun 14, 4:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFAndrews51 min
Jun 14, 4:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFMidland48 min
Jun 14, 4:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFPecos49 min
Jun 14, 4:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFMartin50 min
Jun 14, 4:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFDawson51 min
Jun 14, 4:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEctor, Midland48 min
Jun 14, 5:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFCrane, Upton49 min
Jun 14, 5:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFMartin50 min
Jun 14, 5:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFGlasscock, Howard51 min
Jun 14, 5:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFUpton50 min
Jun 14, 5:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFHoward48 min
Jun 14, 6:13 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMAFGlasscock, Howard3 hr
Jun 14, 6:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFReagan49 min
Jun 14, 6:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFBorden, Scurry51 min
Jun 14, 6:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFGlasscock48 min
Jun 14, 6:49 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMAFScurry2 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 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.