Alert archive / Oregon / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 19, NWS Medford, OR

September 2, 1997Jackson County, Oregon

NWS Medford, OR issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Sep 2, 1997, 7:00 PM PDT for Jackson County, Oregon. 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
Sep 2, 1997, 7:00 PM PDT (02:00 UTC)
Expired
Sep 2, 1997, 7:45 PM PDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Medford, OR
Area
Whole counties

County Jackson County, OR

The radar

The Medford radar (KMAX), 39 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:04 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

Medford/Jackson, OR (KMFR), launched 00:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 9 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, Medford/Jackson, OR at 00:00Z on 1997-09-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 284 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, Medford/Jackson, OR at 00:00Z on 1997-09-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 31 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
284 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-90 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2479 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
150 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.

676 
WUUS1 KMFR 030206 RRA
SVRMFR
ORC029-030245-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
700 PM PDT TUE SEP 2 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MEDFORD HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM PDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN SOUTHWEST OREGON
 
   ...WESTERN JACKSON COUNTY
 
AT 700 PM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM MOVING THROUGH WESTERN
JACKSON COUNTY JUST SOUTH OF THE TOWN OF ROGUE RIVER. THIS STORM WAS
PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN...STRONG WINDS AND HAIL. THE STORM WAS MOVING
TO THE NORTH NORTHWEST AT 15 MPH AND WILL CROSS I-5 NEAR ROGUE RIVER AT
720 PM.

What forecasters said that day

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

NWS Medford, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Sep 2, 2:32 PM PDT, 4 hours 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 2, 2:32 PM PDT, 4 hours 28 minutes before
SOUTHWEST OREGON/NORTHEAST CALIFORNIA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MEDFORD OR
230 PM PDT TUE SEP 02 1997

SLY FLOW TO BRING MOISTURE OVER CTRL CALIF NORTH TO CWA THIS EVENING
THRU WEDNESDAY. LOCALLY MODERATE PCPN PSBL FROM WAVETRAIN AND UPSLP
NRN CALIF ZONES THRU WEDNESDAY MRNG. TRW TONIGHT THRU WEDNESDAY FROM
CTRL SISKIYOU COUNTY NORTH TO SOUTHERN PART OF OR08 AND FROM OR12 EWD
THRU OR15 AND CA12. MOISTURE ALG SRN OREGON COAST MAINLY MID LVL AND
THREAT OF PCPN LOW THRU WEDNESDAY. MIN TEMPS A LITTLE WARMER TONIGHT
AND COOLER WEDNESDAY FROM CLOUD COVER/PCPN. EXTND FCST PER MRF/UK KEEP
WEAK TROUGH NR CST. FLOW ALOFT SW AND THREAT OF PCPN LOW AND MAINLY
NR CST...TEMP/POPS PER FMR RSBL. JC

.MFR...NONE.

.KMAX...OUT FOR MAINTENANCE UNTIL 3 PM 09/02

...SEE PDXCCFPDX FOR CODED CITIES FORECAST

MFR BU 058/087 056/087 055 023321
LMT TB 051/083 048/083 046 024411
RBG BU 059/082 058/082 057 021221
4BK BU 055/071 054/068 053 022200
OTH BU 057/068 055/066 052 021100
YKA TU 049/080 047/083 048 023421
MHS TE 048/078 046/079 046 024421
S11 TB 047/075 041/078 045 025531

The office that day

Everything else NWS Medford, OR issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 2, 7:17 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFRJosephine58 min
Sep 2, 8:00 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMFRJackson60 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Oregon, 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.