Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Norman, OK

May 8, 1997Clay County, Texas

NWS Norman, OK issued this tornado warning at May 8, 1997, 8:00 PM CDT for Clay County, Texas. It was in force for 45 min. 5 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 8, 1997, 8:00 PM CDT (01:00 UTC)
Expired
May 8, 1997, 8:45 PM CDT
In force
45 min
Issued by
NWS Norman, OK
Area
Whole counties

County Clay County, TX

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 8, 8:00 PM CDTHail 1.75Henrietta, TXat the intersection of FM 2393 and FM 1954
May 8, 8:00 PM CDTHail 2.75Lake Arrowhead, TX
May 8, 8:15 PM CDTTornado F0Bluegrove, TXA citizen reported a brief tornado on the FM 172 bridge south of Lake Arrowhead. One picnic shelter in a park was destroyed.
May 8, 8:50 PM CDTThunderstorm WindDeer Creek, TXSevere thunderstorm winds blew windows out of a house.
May 8, 8:55 PM CDTTornado F0Deer Creek, TXA small tornado, probably a gustnado, blew part of the roof off a barn.

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
May 8, 3:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 136 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, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 1997-05-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1444 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, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 1997-05-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 26 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1444 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-31 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
916 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
26 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
10 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KOKC 090059 RRA
TOROKC
TXC077-090145-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
800 PM CDT THU MAY 08 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORMAN HAS ISSUED A TORNADO
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 845 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES

IN NORTHERN TEXAS
     CENTRAL AND SOUTHERN CLAY

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
     BLUEGROVE...JOY AND LAKE ARROWHEAD

AT 845 PM CDT DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO NEAR
BLUEGROVE.

THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

TAKE COVER NOW.  ABANDON MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES.  MOVE TO
SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF POSSIBLE.  OTHERWISE...MOVE TO AN
INTERIOR ROOM OR HALLWAY ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  STAY AWAY FROM
WLINDOWS.


CB

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 8, 7:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNArcher, Clay52 min
May 8, 7:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNBaylor, Wichita, Wilbarger45 min
May 8, 7:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNFoard, Knox45 min
May 8, 7:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNArcher, Clay, Wichita50 min
May 8, 7:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningOUNBaylor, Knox50 min
May 8, 8:28 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningOUNWichita3 hr
May 8, 8:34 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningOUNArcher, Clay3 hr
May 8, 8:41 PM CDTTornado WarningOUNClay34 min
May 8, 9:24 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningOUNBaylor, Knox4 hr
May 8, 11:09 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningOUNArcher, Clay, Wichita3 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.