Alert archive / Kentucky / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 141, NWS Charleston, WV

August 17, 1997Lawrence County, Kentucky

NWS Charleston, WV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 17, 1997, 4:54 PM EDT for Lawrence County, Kentucky. It was in force for 51 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
Aug 17, 1997, 4:54 PM EDT (20:54 UTC)
Expired
Aug 17, 1997, 5:45 PM EDT
In force
51 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 20:57 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Aug 17, 1:15 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 12:00Z, 8.9 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 12:00Z on 1997-08-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 39 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, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 12:00Z on 1997-08-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 51 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
39 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-211 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
934 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
51 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
131 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 KCRW 172054 RRA
SVRCRW
KYC127-172145-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
454 PM EDT SUN AUG 17 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM EDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN EAST KENTUCKY
 
   ...LAWRENCE COUNTY
 
RADAR INDICATES THAT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING IN LAWRENCE
COUNTY. THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG DAMAGING WINDS.
 
<< 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.

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 17, 4:36 PM EDT, 18 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WEST VIRGINIA
438 PM EDT SUN AUG 17 1997

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

0115 PM    POMEROY                   OH   WIND DAMAGE
08/17/97   MEIGS                          NUMEROUS TREES DOWNED FROM
                                          CHESTER...TO POMEROY AND
                                          RUTLAND. TREES DOWNED ON
                                          RTE 7 EAST IN MEIGS
                                          GOUNTY.

0310 PM    PROCTORVILLE              OH   WIND DAMAGE
08/17/97   LAWRENCE                       MANY DOWNED TREES...NUMBER
                                          DOWNED REPORTED IN THE
                                          HUNDREDS BY HAM RADIO
                                          SPOTTER...ALONG STATE
                                          ROUTE 775 NORTH OF
                                          PROCTORVILLE.

0330 PM    GREEN BOTTOM              WV   WIND DAMAGE
08/17/97   CABELL                         SEVERAL TREES AND BRANCHES
                                          DOWNED

0400 PM                              KY   WIND DAMAGE
08/17/97   BOYD                           SEVERAL TREES DOWNED 12
                                          MILES EAST OF
                                          GRAYSON...JUST OVER THE
                                          BOYD COUNTY LINE
Local storm report, Aug 17, 4:38 PM EDT, 16 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WEST VIRGINIA
438 PM EDT SUN AUG 17 1997

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

0115 PM    POMEROY                   OH   WIND DAMAGE
08/17/97   MEIGS                          NUMEROUS TREES DOWNED FROM
                                          CHESTER...TO POMEROY AND
                                          RUTLAND. TREES DOWNED ON
                                          RTE 7 EAST IN MEIGS
                                          GOUNTY.

0310 PM    PROCTORVILLE              OH   WIND DAMAGE
08/17/97   LAWRENCE                       MANY DOWNED TREES...NUMBER
                                          DOWNED REPORTED IN THE
                                          HUNDREDS BY HAM RADIO
                                          SPOTTER...ALONG STATE
                                          ROUTE 775 NORTH OF
                                          PROCTORVILLE.

0330 PM    GREEN BOTTOM              WV   WIND DAMAGE
08/17/97   CABELL                         SEVERAL TREES AND BRANCHES
                                          DOWNED

0400 PM                              KY   WIND DAMAGE
08/17/97   BOYD                           SEVERAL TREES DOWNED 12
                                          MILES EAST OF
                                          GRAYSON...JUST OVER THE
                                          BOYD COUNTY LINE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 17, 1:57 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXCarter, Greenup63 min
Aug 17, 4:06 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXCarter, Greenup54 min
Aug 17, 4:17 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXBoyd43 min
Aug 17, 7:31 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXCarter44 min
Aug 17, 7:47 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXLawrence43 min
Aug 17, 7:59 PM EDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningRLXBoyd46 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Kentucky, 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.