Alert archive / Kentucky / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 4, NWS Charleston, WV

March 1, 1997Lawrence County, Kentucky

NWS Charleston, WV issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 1, 1997, 4:04 PM EST 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
Mar 1, 1997, 4:04 PM EST (21:04 UTC)
Expired
Mar 1, 1997, 4:30 PM EST
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 21:08 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 1, 4:25 PM ESTThunderstorm WindBlaine, 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Cncnati-Daytn, OH at 12:00Z on 1997-03-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 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 1997-03-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 411 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
514 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
77 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
411 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
353 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCRW 012104 RRA
SVRCRW
KYC127-012130-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
404 PM EST SAT MAR 1 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CHARLESTON HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  430 PM EST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION......
 
IN EAST KENTUCKY
 
   ...SOUTHERN LAWRENCE COUNTY
 
STORNG THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF OF LAWRENCE
COUNTY DURING THE NEXT HALF HOUR. THESE STORMS COULD PRODUCE DAMAGING
WINDS AND LARGE HAIL.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.
 
ZINN

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

Special weather statement, Mar 1, 3:42 PM EST, 22 minutes before
KYZ105-012130-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
342 PM EST SAT MAR 1 1997

...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL BE MOVING THROUGH LAWRENCE COUNTY
KENTUCKY BETWEEN 400 AND 430 PM...

A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WITH WIND GUSTS OF 30 TO 40 MPH IS INDICATED BY
RADAR AND WILL MOVE THROUGH LAWRENCE COUNTY KENTUCKY BETWEEN 4 AND 430
PM.  IN ADDITION TO THE STRONG WINDS SOME SMALL HAIL IS ALSO POSSIBLE.

END
Special weather statement, Mar 1, 3:47 PM EST, 17 minutes before
KYZ105-012130-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHARLESTON WV
342 PM EST SAT MAR 1 1997

...A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WILL BE MOVING THROUGH LAWRENCE COUNTY
KENTUCKY BETWEEN 400 AND 430 PM..8.

A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WITH WIND GUSTS OF 30 TO 40 MPH IS INDICATED BY
RADAR AND WILL MOVE THROUGH LAWRENCE COUNTY KENTUCKY BETWEEN 4 AND 430
PM.  IN ADDITION TO THE STRONG WINDS SOME SMALL HAIL IS ALSO POSSIBLE.

END

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 1, 6:27 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXBoyd, Carter, Lawrence3 hr
Mar 1, 9:37 AM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXBoyd, Carter, Lawrence4 hr
Mar 1, 1:50 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXBoyd4 hr
Mar 1, 1:50 PM ESTFlash Flood WarningRLXCarter4 hr

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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.