Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Norman, OK

April 4, 1997Bryan County, Oklahoma

NWS Norman, OK issued this tornado warning at Apr 4, 1997, 5:27 PM CST for Bryan County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 48 min. 4 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: Apr 4, 1997, 5:27 PM CST (23:27 UTC)
Expired: Apr 4, 1997, 6:15 PM CST
In force: 48 min
Issued by: NWS Norman, OK
Area: Whole counties

County Bryan County, OK

The radar

The Norman radar (KTLX), 179 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:28 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
Apr 4, 5:34 PM CST	Hail 0.88	Cartwright, OK
Apr 4, 5:39 PM CST	Hail 1	Colbert, OK
Apr 4, 5:39 PM CST	Hail 1	Durant, OK
Apr 4, 5:39 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind 52	Durant, 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
Apr 4, 5:15 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Norman, OK (KOUN), launched 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 175 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: 78 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -46 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 490 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 267 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 300 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KOKC 042325 RRA
TOROKC
OKC013-050015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
527 PM CST FRI APR 04 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORMAN HAS ISSUED A TORNADO
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 615 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES

IN SOUTHEASTERN OKLAHOMA
     BRYAN

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
     ACHILLE...COLBERT...DURANT AND KEMP

AT 527 PM CST DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF PLATTER.

THE STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. THIS STORM HAS HAD A HISTORY
OF PRODUCING WIND DAMAGE IN THE PILOT POINT TEXAS AREA.

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
WINDOWS.


CB

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 4, 4:33 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Bryan, Marshall	27 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Oklahoma, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.