Alert archive / Washington / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 41, NWS Spokane, WA
NWS Spokane, WA issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 26, 1997, 4:35 PM PDT for Okanogan County, Washington. It was in force for 40 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
- Aug 26, 1997, 4:35 PM PDT (23:35 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 26, 1997, 5:15 PM PDT
- In force
- 40 min
- Issued by
- NWS Spokane, WA
- Area
- Whole counties
County Okanogan County, WA
The radar
The Spokane radar (KOTX), 184 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:35 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 26, 5:15 PM PDT | Tornado F0 | Omak, WA | WCM confirms brief tornado touchdown...F0 |
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
Spokane, WA (KOTX), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 265 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1518 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 58 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 94 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 142 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KGEG 262339 RRA SVRGEG WAC047-270015- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING...CORRECTED NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WA 435 PM PDT TUE AUG 26 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SPOKANE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 515 PM PDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN NORTH CENTRAL WASHINGTON ...OKANOGAN COUNTY AT 435 PM PDT SPOKANE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS...EXTENDING FROM NEAR STEHEKIN TO WATERVILLE. THESE STORMS WILL MOVE NORTHEASTWARD INTO SOUTHWEST OKANOGAN COUNTY BY 445 PM. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A STRONG BUILDING. DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN... AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED. AVERY
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 Spokane, WA wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Aug 26, 1:35 PM PDT, 3 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 26, 1:35 PM PDT, 3 hours before
EASTERN WASHINGTON AND NORTH IDAHO AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPOKANE WASHINGTON 130 PM PDT TUE AUG 26 1997 LTG STRIKES INCREASED DRAMATICALLY OVR WRN INTR WA/NWRN OREGON ARND 20Z. TSTM ACTIVITY ASSOCIATED WITH UPR TROF PUSHING STG SHORTWAVE AND SFC CD FNT NNE ACROSS WA CASCADES. MDLS HAVE STGST DYNAMICS WITH VORTICITY MAX REMAINING MAINLY NCTRL WA. HOWEVER...WEAKER FORM OF THIS WAVE TO IMPACT NE WA AND NRN PTNS ID PANHANDLE LATER TONIGHT. VERY DRY AHEAD OF SFC FNT CNTRL BASIN EWD SO WILL NOT GO ABOVE SCT POPS TONIGHT. FLATTER...MEAN TROF AXIS JUST OFFSHORE BY TMRW AFTN WITH WEAK UPR LVL WAVES IN SWLY FLO TO ENHANCE CLDS THRU FCST PD BUT EXPECT STABLE REGIME OVR MOST AREA WITH WEAK DYNAMICS AND LOW POPS. ETA AND TO LESSER DEGREE...NGM MODEL SHOWS MSTR CONVERGENCE IN LOW LEVELS NE OR INTO SW MT WED NIGHT INTO THU. THIS ALSO ON UNSTABLE BOUNDARY ON LEE SIDE OF RETREATING RIDGE VCTY SHOSHONE CTY. THEREFORE WILL SPLIT SHOSHONE COUNTY FOR LESS CHC PCP TONIGHT AND BETTER CHC PCPN WED NIGHT AND THU. THERMAL RDG RETREATS INTO MT WED AND THU FOR COOLER MAXS. TC ...PRODUCTS BELOW ARE PRELIMINARY AND SUBJECT TO CHANGE... ...PLEASE SEE SEACCFSEA AND ZONE FORECAS6T PRODUCTS... GEG 056/074/052/073 2111 CQV 053/075/051/075 3212 S86 050/073/051/070 3211 COE 052/073/051/071 3221 WWP 050/070/049/068 2333 .GEG...NONE
The office that day
Everything else NWS Spokane, WA issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 26, 3:35 PM PDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OTX | Okanogan | 40 min |
| Aug 26, 4:19 PM PDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | OTX | Chelan, Douglas | 26 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Washington, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.