Alert archive / Oklahoma / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 86, NWS Norman, OK

May 7, 1997Alfalfa County, Grant County, Oklahoma

NWS Norman, OK issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 7, 1997, 5:30 PM CDT for Alfalfa County, Grant County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 45 min. 3 reports 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 7, 1997, 5:30 PM CDT (22:30 UTC)
Expired: May 7, 1997, 6:15 PM CDT
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Norman, OK
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Alfalfa County, OK, Grant County, OK

The radar

The Vance AFB radar (KVNX), 7 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:34 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
May 7, 5:40 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Amorita, OK
May 7, 5:47 PM CDT	Hail 1	Gibbon, OK
May 7, 6:18 PM CDT	Hail 0.88	Medford, OK

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 7, 4:30 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lamont, OK (KLMN), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 54 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: 136 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -134 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 925 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 65 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 161 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 Norman, OK wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 7, 3:44 PM CDT, 1 hour 46 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 7, 3:44 PM CDT, 1 hour 46 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
330 PM CDT WED MAY 7 1997

SFC FNT THIS AFTN STRETCHING FROM N CNTRL KS INTO NWRN TX PANHANDLE.
THIN LINE OF CU NOW SHOWING UP ON SAT ALG THE BNDRY. WINDS HAVE
STARTED TO BACK AHD OF THE FRNT THE PAST FEW HOURS WITH WITH
CONVERGENCENCE INCRSG ALG THE BNDRY. EXPECT ACTIVITY TO DVLP ALG THE FNT
LATE THIS AFTN AND TONIGHT THEN MOVE EWD ACRS THE FA. VRY UNSTABLE
AMS IN PLACE AHD OF THE FRONT. ALSO GOOD TURNING INDICATED IN THE WIND
PROFILE ALTHO THE SPEEDS ARE NOT REAL STG. SO WILL MENTION POSSBL SEVERE
IN MOST ZONES GRPS. ANOTHER AREA OF DVLPMNT MAY BE FRTHR S INTO THE TX
PANHANDLE BETWEEN AMA AND CDS. ANY ACTIVITY DVLPG THERE WUD MOVE INTO SW
 OK W TX ZONES. WL SPREAD HI POPS ACRS THE FA FOR TONIGHT WITH SOMEWHAT
LOWER POPS IN THE SE DUE TO THE UNCERTAINITY IN IN WHEN ACTIVITY MAY
REACH THERE. FNT MOVES INTO THE FA OVERNIGHT AND PUSHES THRU THE SE
DURING THE DAY FRIDAY PRETTY MUCH ENDING THE THRT OF FRTHR TSTM
ACTIVITY.

02

OKC   58  71  49  73 /  70  30  10  10
HBR   55  72  47  75 /  60  20  10  10
SPS   61  75  51  71 /  60  30  10  10
GAG   50  72  41  74 /  60  10  10  10
PNC   54  73  46  74 /  70  30  10  10
DUA   65  75  52  74 /  50  60  10  10

.OKC...
OK...NONE.
TX...NONE.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 7, 12:30 PM CDT, 5 hours before

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Special weather statement, May 7, 12:35 PM CDT, 4 hours 55 minutes before

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The office that day

Everything else NWS Norman, OK issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 7, 6:04 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OUN	Grant	26 min
May 7, 6:26 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OUN	Grant	34 min
May 7, 6:57 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OUN	Grant	48 min
May 7, 12:01 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Hardeman	44 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Oklahoma, 1997 Every 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.