Alert archive / Kentucky / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 114, NWS Charleston, WV

August 4, 1997Lawrence County, Kentucky

NWS Charleston, WV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 4, 1997, 5:04 PM EDT for Lawrence County, Kentucky. It was in force for 26 min. 1 report 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: Aug 4, 1997, 5:04 PM EDT (21:04 UTC)
Expired: Aug 4, 1997, 5:30 PM EDT
In force: 26 min
Issued by: NWS Charleston, WV
Area: Whole counties

County Lawrence County, KY

The radar

The Jackson,KY radar (KJKL), 73 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:07 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	Remark
Aug 4, 5:10 PM EDT	Hail 1	Blaine, KY

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 nearest sounding before it

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 12:00Z, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 177 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: 1010 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -41 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 547 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 169 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 218 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.7
Supercell composite: 6.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCRW 042105 RRA
SVRCRW
KYC127-042130-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
504 PM EDT MON AUG 4 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  530 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN EAST KENTUCKY
 
   ...LAWRENCE COUNTY
 
DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR IS INDICATING A POSSIBLY SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN
THE NORTHERN PORTION OF LAWRENCE COUNTY. THIS STORM IS MOVING TO THE
SOUTHEAST A 20 MPH AND WILL PASS NEAR GLADYS AND ADAMS IN THE NEXT 15
MINUTES.
 
 
<< CALL TO ACTION >> 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.
 
GRAF

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.

In the hours before

Local storm report, Aug 4, 11:04 AM EDT, 6 hours before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WEST VIRGINIA
1104 AM EDT MON AUG 04 1997

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

1045 AM                              KY   WIND DAMAGE
08/04/97   ELLIOTT                        ARMY CORP OF ENG REPORTED
                                          SEVERAL TREE LIMBS
                                          DOWN...6 TO 8 INCH
                                          DIAMETER IN GRAYSON LAKE
                                          AREA

Local storm report, Aug 4, 11:55 AM EDT, 5 hours 9 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WEST VIRGINIA
1155 AM EDT MON AUG 04 1997

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

1153 AM                              WV   WIND DAMAGE
08/04/97   MASON                          TREES DOWN 830 AM
                                          EDT...BLOCKED CANE RIDGE
                                          ROAD...BETWEEN RIPLEY AND
                                          PT. PLEASANT.

Special weather statement, Aug 4, 2:51 PM EDT, 2 hours 13 minutes before

VAZ003-004-042200-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
251 PM EDT MON AUG 4 1997

HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS FROM EARLIER TODAY HAVE GIVEN PARTS OF OUR REGION
AN INCH TO AN INCH AND A HALF OF RAIN. MORE STORMS ARE FORMING TO OUR
NORTHWEST AND WILL MOVE ACROSS PARTS OF DICKENSON AND BUCHANAN COUNTIES
IN VIRGINIA THE NEXT FEW HOURS. THESE STORMS MAY CONTAIN ANOTHER INCH
OR SO OF RAINFALL AS THEY MOVE THROUGH.

THIS MAY BE ENOUGH TO SEND SOME FLOOD PRONE STREAMS AND CREEKS OVER
THIER BANKS...AND CAUSE FLOODING IN THE TYPICAL AREAS OF POOR DRAINAGE.
IF YOU LIVE NEAR ONE OF THESE PLACES...STAY ALERT FOR RAPIDLY RISING
WATER IN THE EVENT OF MORE HEAVY RAINFALL BETWEEN NOW AND 6 PM.

END/GRAF

Special weather statement, Aug 4, 3:06 PM EDT, 1 hour 58 minutes before

VAZ003-004-042200-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
251 PM EDT MON AUG 4 1997

HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS FROM EARLIER TODAY HAVE GIVEN PARTS OF OUR REGION
AN INCH TO AN INCH AND A HALF OF RAIN. MORE STORMS ARE FORMING TO OUR
NORTHWEST AND WILL MOVE ACROSS PARTS OF DICKENSON AND BUCHANAN COUNTIES
IN VIRGINIA THE NEXT FEW HOURS. THESE STORMS MAY CONTAIN ANOTHER INCH
OR SO OF RAINFALL AS THEY MOVE THROUGH.

THIS MAY BE ENOUGH TO SEND SOME FLOOD PRONE STREAMS AND CREEKS OVER
THIER BANKS...AND CAUSE FLOODING IN THE TYPICAL AREAS OF POOR DRAINAGE.
IF YOU LIVE NEAR ONE OF THESE PLACES...STAY ALERT FOR RAPIDLY RISING
WATER IN THE EVENT OF MORE HEAVY RAINFALL BETWEEN \NOW AND 6 PM.

END/GRAF

Special weather statement, Aug 4, 3:29 PM EDT, 1 hour 35 minutes before

VAZ012>017-042000-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
329 PM EDT MON AUG 4 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON WEST VIRGINIA HAS CANCELLED
THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH ISSUED EARLIER TODAY FOR PARTS OF
SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA.

THE COUNTIES IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA ARE...

GRAYSON   WYTHE   PULASKI   MONTGOMERY
CARROLLI  FLOYD

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE STILL POSSIBLE THIS EVENING AS
A COLD FRONT MOVES INTO THE REGION. BUT SEVERE STORMS ARE NOT LIKLELY.

END/GRAF

Special weather statement, Aug 4, 3:39 PM EDT, 1 hour 25 minutes before

VAZ012>017-042000-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
329 PM EDT MON AUG 4 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON WEST VIRGINIA HAS CANCELLED
THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH ISSUED EARLIER TODAY FOR PARTS OF
SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA.

THE COUNTIES IN SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA ARE...

GRAYSON   WYTHE   PULASKI   MONTGOMERY
CARROLLI  FLOYD

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE STILL POSSIBLE THIS EVENING AS
A COLD FRONT MOVES INTO THE REGION. BUT SEVERE STORMS ARE NOT LIKLELY.

END/GRAF

The office that day

Everything else NWS Charleston, WV issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 4, 10:12 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Carter	33 min
Aug 4, 10:34 AM EDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	RLX	Elliott, Lawrence	26 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kentucky, 1997 Every 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.