Alert archive / Oregon / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Portland, OR

June 1, 1997Marion County, Polk County, Oregon

NWS Portland, OR issued this tornado warning at Jun 1, 1997, 11:54 AM PDT for Marion County, Polk County, Oregon. It was in force for 2 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 1, 1997, 11:54 AM PDT (18:54 UTC)
Expired
Jun 1, 1997, 2:00 PM PDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Portland, OR
Area
Whole counties

Counties Marion County, OR, Polk County, OR

The radar

The Portland,OR radar (KRTX), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:56 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, 6.9 hours before the alert went out and 2 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 1997-06-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 50 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 1997-06-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 73 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
50 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-17 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
714 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
73 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
108 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 KPDX 011854 RRA
TORPDX
ORC047-053-012100-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
1154 AM PDT SUN JUN 1 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN PORTLAND HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  200 PM PDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHWEST OREGON
 
   ...WESTERN MARION COUNTY...EASTERN POLK COUNTY
 
SEVERAL PILOTS REPORTED POSSIBLE TORNADO IN THE VICINTIY OF INDEPENDENCE
OREGON MOVING NORTH AND NORTHEAST.
 
 
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, Jun 1, 11:50 AM PDT, 4 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OREGON
1150 AM PDT SUN JUN 01 1997

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

 1137    PM ALBANY           OR   TORNADO
            BENTON                15 MILES WEST OF ALBANY OREGON
                                  PRIVATE CITIZEN REPORT

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Oregon, 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.