Alert archive / Washington / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 2, NWS Portland, OR
NWS Portland, OR issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1997, 5:54 PM PDT for Clark County, Washington. It was in force for 36 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, 5:54 PM PDT (00:54 UTC)
- Expired
- May 31, 1997, 6:30 PM PDT
- In force
- 36 min
- Issued by
- NWS Portland, OR
- Area
- Whole counties
County Clark County, WA
The radar
The Portland,OR radar (KRTX), 38 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:53 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 00:00Z, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 104 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 170 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 773 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 31 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -27 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 27 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- -0.0
- Supercell composite
- -0.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
669 WFUS1 KPDX 010055 RRA TORPDX WAC011-010130- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR 554 PM PDT SAT MAY 31 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PORTLAND HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 630 PM PDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHWEST WASHINGTON ...CLARK COUNTY POLICE AND WASHINGTON EMERGENCY MANAGERS AT 550PM REPORTED A TORNADO LIFTING AND TOUCHING DOWN NORTH OF CAMP BONNEVILLE MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM TAKE COVER NOW. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS... OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.
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.
In the hours before
Local storm report, May 31, 12:15 PM PDT, 5 hours 39 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OREGON
1215 PM PDT SAT MAY 31 1997
TIME(PDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
520 PM VANCOUVER WA TORNADO
05/31/97 CLARK CAR LIFTED UP AND DEPOSITED
IN ANOTHER YARD. FENCES AND
ROOFING TORN OFF. SWING SET
LIFTED OVER A HOUSE.Local storm report, May 31, 12:36 PM PDT, 5 hours 18 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OREGON
1215 PM PDT SAT MAY 31 1997
TIME(PDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
10The office that day
Everything else NWS Portland, OR issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 5:20 PM PDT | Tornado Warning | PQR | Clark | 40 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Washington, 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.