Alert archive / Oregon / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Pendleton, OR

May 31, 1997Jefferson County, Oregon

NWS Pendleton, OR issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 31, 1997, 9:10 AM PDT for Jefferson County, Oregon. It was in force for 65 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 31, 1997, 9:10 AM PDT (16:10 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1997, 10:15 AM PDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Pendleton, OR
Area
Whole counties

County Jefferson County, OR

The radar

The Portland,OR radar (KRTX), 185 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:13 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Salem/Mcnary, OR (KSLE), launched 12:00Z, 4.2 hours before the alert went out and 148 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, Salem/Mcnary, OR at 12:00Z on 1997-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 295 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, Salem/Mcnary, OR at 12:00Z on 1997-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 65 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
295 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-9 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
635 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
61 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
65 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
126 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KPDT 311615 RRA
SVRPDT
ORC021-031-055-065-311715-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OR
910 AM PDT SAT MAY 31 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PENDLETON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 AM PDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN CENTRAL OREGON
 
   ...EASTERN JEFFERSON COUNTY
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL OREGON
 
   ...SOUTHEASTERN WASCO COUNTY...SOUTHERN SHERMAN COUNTY...AND
      SOUTHERN GILLIAM COUNTY...
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING.  SPOTTERS IN THE AREA REPORTED
GREATER THAN HALF INCH HAIL IN ASHWOOD.  THESE STORMS ARE MOVING TO THE
NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.
 
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.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.
 
 
 
&

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 Pendleton, OR wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 31, 8:31 AM PDT, 39 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 31, 8:31 AM PDT, 39 minutes before
NORTHEAST OREGON/SOUTHEAST WASHINGTON FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PENDLETON OREGON
830 AM PDT SAT MAY 31 1997

OBSERVATION OF DVLPG TCU TO W OF KPDT INDCTS SLGT ROTATION
IN LYR ABV LCL.  TOPS OF TCU ARE BEING SHEARED OFF.  CROOK COUNTY
SPOTTER RPRT JUST RCVD OF FLASH FLOODING IN PROGRESS.
LITTLE TIME TO REVIEW NEW 12Z MDLS.  BUSY CORD WITH PDX/SEA AND
CALLING IN EXTRA STAFF IN ANTICIPATION OF STG TSTMS TDA.
NXT SCHEDULED ISSUANCEv OF AFD AT 230 PM.   POLAN

PDT 6311  ALW 6311  PSC 6211  YKM 6211

.KPDT...VCP21/CSR21...OPERATIONAL.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Pendleton, OR issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 30, 10:20 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTUnion40 min
May 31, 12:27 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTCrook, Deschutes, Jefferson63 min
May 31, 12:55 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTWasco65 min
May 31, 1:35 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTGilliam, Sherman55 min
May 31, 2:26 AM PDTFlash Flood WarningPDTMorrow64 min
May 31, 2:26 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTMorrow64 min
May 31, 3:05 AM PDTFlash Flood WarningPDTUmatilla85 min
May 31, 3:05 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTUmatilla85 min
May 31, 8:41 AM PDTFlash Flood WarningPDTCrook, Jefferson2 hr
May 31, 9:10 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTGilliam, Sherman, Wasco65 min
May 31, 9:25 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTGilliam, Morrow65 min
May 31, 9:25 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTSherman65 min
May 31, 9:39 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTCrook, Deschutes, Jefferson66 min
May 31, 10:28 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTMorrow, Umatilla62 min
May 31, 10:55 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTCrook65 min
May 31, 10:58 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTMorrow62 min
May 31, 11:25 AM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTMorrow, Umatilla65 min
May 31, 11:45 AM PDTFlash Flood WarningPDTMorrow2 hr
May 31, 12:25 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTUmatilla50 min
May 31, 1:05 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTUnion55 min
May 31, 1:06 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTUnion54 min
May 31, 1:10 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTUnion50 min
May 31, 1:15 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTUmatilla60 min
May 31, 1:25 PM PDTFlash Flood WarningPDTUmatilla2 hr
May 31, 2:29 PM PDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningPDTWallowa61 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Oregon, 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.