Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Shreveport, LA

February 20, 1997Cass County, Texas

NWS Shreveport, LA issued this tornado warning at Feb 20, 1997, 5:05 PM CST for Cass County, Texas. It was in force for 40 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
Feb 20, 1997, 5:05 PM CST (23:05 UTC)
Expired
Feb 20, 1997, 5:45 PM CST
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Shreveport, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Cass County, TX

The radar

The Shreveport radar (KSHV), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:05 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
Feb 20, 5:11 PM CSTTornado F0Hughes Spgs, TX

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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Feb 20, 3:30 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 87 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, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 1997-02-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 271 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 1997-02-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 164 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
271 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
501 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
164 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
209 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSHV 202305 RRA
TORSHV
TXC067-202345-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
505 PM CST THU FEB 20 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SHREVEPORT HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  545 PM CST
FOR THE FOLLOWING AREA...
 
IN NORTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...WESTERN CASS COUNTY
 
AT 503 PM CST DOPPLER RADAR IN SHREVEPORT INDICATED A DEVELOPING
TORNADO IN SOUTHWEST CASS COUNTY NEAR HUGHES SPRINGS MOVING TO THE
NORTH AT 40 MPH.  THIS TORNADO WILL AFFECT HUGHES SPRINGS.
 
 
 
 
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN YOUR CAR IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...LEAVE THE
CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK
SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.
 
 
 
\

The office that day

Everything else NWS Shreveport, LA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 20, 5:00 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningSHVCamp, Smith, Upshur, Wood4 hr
Feb 20, 5:00 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningSHVFranklin, Red River, Titus4 hr
Feb 20, 5:00 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningSHVCherokee4 hr
Feb 20, 5:52 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVCamp, Morris, Upshur38 min
Feb 20, 5:52 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVTitus38 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.