Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 46, NWS Norman, OK

May 29, 1997Ellis County, Woodward County, Oklahoma

NWS Norman, OK issued this tornado warning at May 29, 1997, 8:05 PM CDT for Ellis County, Woodward County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 25 min. 3 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 29, 1997, 8:05 PM CDT (01:05 UTC)
Expired: May 29, 1997, 8:30 PM CDT
In force: 25 min
Issued by: NWS Norman, OK
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Ellis County, OK, Woodward County, OK

The radar

The Vance AFB radar (KVNX), 132 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:05 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 29, 8:15 PM CDT	Hail 2	Fargo, OK
May 29, 8:25 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Tangier, OK
May 29, 8:33 PM CDT	Hail 2.5	Sharon, 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 29, 6:30 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 00:00Z, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 165 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: 36 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -86 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 560 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 0 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 0 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 0 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.

000 
TTAA00 KOKC 300105 RRA
TOROKC
OKC045-153-300130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
805 PM CDT THU MAY 29 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN NORMAN HAS ISSUED A TORNADO
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 830 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES

IN NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA
     NORTHEAST ELLIS AND WESTERN WOODWARD

INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS
     FARGO... SHARON AND TANGIER.

AT 805 PM CDT DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 3
MILES NORTH OF FARGO.  SPOTTERS REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD WITH THIS STORM.
THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 TO 30 MPH.  PERSONS IN AND NEAR
FARGO AND TANGIER SHOULD MOVE TO A PLACE OF SHELTER.

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.

LAT...LON 3617  9928 3629  9978 3650  9975 3649  9945

...SPEG.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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 tornado warning went out at May 29, 3:40 PM CDT, 4 hours 25 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 29, 3:40 PM CDT, 4 hours 25 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OK
335 PM CDT THU MAY 29 1997

LATEST SFC ANALYSIS INDICATES A SFC LOW OVR EXTREME SE CO...WITH A
NEARLY STATIONARY BOUNDARY EXTENDING INTO CENTRAL AND EAST CENTRAL
KS. CONVECTION IS CURRENTLY OCCURRING IN VICINITY OF BOUNDARY...AIDED
BY A SHORT WAVE ACRS WRN KS.

ALSO SCT STG/SVR CONVECTION NOW INCREASING ACRS SWRN KS AND SERN CO.

FSCT WIND FIELDS SUGGEST THIS ACTIVITY MAY EVOLVE INTO A ORGANIZED
CONVECTIVE COMPLEX OVERNIGHT. ANOTHER SHORT WAVE ACRS CENTRAL ROCKY
MOUNTAIN REGION IN NW FLOW WL HELP SUSTAIN ANY CONVECTION.

12Z ETA AND AVN SOLUTIONS BRING SFC BOUNDARY ACRS CENTRAL ZNS BY 18Z
FRI...THEN MOVE THE BOUNDARY SE OF THE CWA ARND 02Z SAT. LOW LVL
RIDGE AND DRIER CONDITIONS PUSH INTO THE CWA BEHIND THE FRONT.

MEDIUM RANGE MDLS SUGGEST DRY CONDITIONS FOR THE EXTND PDS...WITH
SLOW WARMING TREND.

COORD WITH TUL AND ICT.

FCSTID = 22
OKC   62  73  54  78 /  50  40   0   0
HBR   62  73  54  80 /  60  40   0   0
SPS   64  76  57  82 /  50  50   0   0
GAG   59  71  53  82 /  70  10   0   0
PNC   60  73  55  77 /  60  10   0   0
DUA   65  79  57  78 /  20  60  20   0

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

CB

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 29, 7:18 PM CDT, 47 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED DATE...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OKLAHOMA
720 PM CDT THU MAY 29 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0714 PM    2 N LAVERNE               OK   0.75 INCH HAIL.
05/29/97   HARPER

MCCAMMON

Local storm report, May 29, 7:20 PM CDT, 45 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED DATE...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OKLAHOMA
720 PM CDT THU MAY 29 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0714 PM    2 N LAVERNE               OK   0.75 INCH HAIL.
05/29/97   HARPER

MCCAMMON

Local storm report, May 29, 7:38 PM CDT, 27 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT ...CORRECTED DATE...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OKLAHOMA
740 PM CDT THU MAY 29 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATIO,N....

0655 PM    KS/OK BORDER HIGHWAY 34   OK   60 MPH WINDS.
05/29/97   WOODS

Local storm report, May 29, 7:40 PM CDT, 25 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OKLAHOMA
740 PM CDT THU MAY 29 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

730 PM     6 E LAVERNE               OK   1.00 INCH HAIL
05/29/97   HARPER

SC

Local storm report, May 29, 7:40 PM CDT, 25 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT ...CORRECTED DATE...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OKLAHOMA
740 PM CDT THU MAY 29 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0655 PM    KS/OK BORDER HIGHWAY 34   OK   60 MPH WINDS.
05/29/97   WOODS

Local storm report, May 29, 7:42 PM CDT, 23 minutes before

LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE NORMAN OKLAHOMA
740 PM CDT THU MAY 29 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

730 PM     6 E 6LAVERNE               OK   1.00 INCH HAIL
05/29/97   HARPER

SC

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 29, 7:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Harper	65 min
May 29, 7:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Ellis	36 min
May 29, 8:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Woodward	45 min
May 29, 8:27 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OUN	Woodward	33 min
May 29, 8:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Ellis	44 min
May 29, 8:45 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OUN	Dewey, Ellis	45 min
May 29, 8:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Woodward	50 min
May 29, 9:28 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OUN	Custer, Dewey	47 min
May 29, 9:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Ellis	29 min
May 29, 9:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Roger Mills	30 min
May 29, 10:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Custer	45 min
May 30, 1:28 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Tillman	47 min
May 30, 2:16 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Tillman	29 min
May 30, 2:44 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Tillman	46 min
May 30, 6:50 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	OUN	Carter, Love, Marshall	3 hr
May 30, 12:20 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	OUN	Carter, Jefferson, Stephens	2 hr

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.