Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

April 22, 1997Midland County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at Apr 22, 1997, 8:41 PM CDT for Midland County, Texas. It was in force for 49 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
Apr 22, 1997, 8:41 PM CDT (01:41 UTC)
Expired
Apr 22, 1997, 9:30 PM CDT
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Midland County, TX

The radar

The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 17 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:41 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
Apr 22, 9:00 PM CDTHail 0.88Midland, TX

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 nearest sounding before it

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 18 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 00:00Z on 1997-04-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1997-04-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 152 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1852 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
70 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
152 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
327 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.

355 
WFUS1 KMAF 230142 RRA
TORMAF
TXC329-230230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
841 PM CDT TUE APR 22 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND TX HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 930 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHWESTERN TEXAS

   ...NORTHERN MIDLAND COUNTY
 
AT 840 PM CDT...A DEVELOPING TORNADO WAS INDICATED BY MIDLAND
DOPPLER RADAR AND SPOTTER REPORTS IN THE VICINITY OF MIDLAND MOVING
SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

SOME LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ARE... WARFIELD AND
COTTON FLAT.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO
BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SAFETY IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A
CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...OR CUSHIONS TO
COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.

$$

TJT/MEY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 22, 7:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFDawson, Gaines61 min
Apr 22, 7:37 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFGaines48 min
Apr 22, 7:52 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFAndrews33 min
Apr 22, 8:17 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFAndrews, Martin48 min

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.