Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 1997
Tornado Watch 193
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 24, 1997, 3:00 PM CDT for 30 counties in Texas. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 24, 1997, 3:00 PM CDT (20:00 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 24, 1997, 9:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 30 counties
Andrews County, TX, Borden County, TX, Coke County, TX, Crosby County, TX, Dawson County, TX, Dickens County, TX, Ector County, TX, Fisher County, TX, Gaines County, TX, Garza County, TX, Glasscock County, TX, Haskell County, TX, Hockley County, TX, Howard County, TX, Jones County, TX, Kent County, TX, King County, TX, Knox County, TX, Lubbock County, TX, Lynn County, TX, Martin County, TX, Midland County, TX, Mitchell County, TX, Nolan County, TX, Scurry County, TX, Sterling County, TX, Stonewall County, TX, Taylor County, TX, Terry County, TX, Yoakum County, TX
The radar
The Lubbock radar (KLBB), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:02 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.
Warnings issued inside it
7 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 24, 3:13 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MAF | Dawson, Gaines | 32 min |
| Apr 24, 3:36 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Ector, Ward | 49 min |
| Apr 24, 3:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Yoakum | 31 min |
| Apr 24, 4:12 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Yoakum | 48 min |
| Apr 24, 4:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Ector | 50 min |
| Apr 24, 4:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Hockley, Terry | 33 min |
| Apr 24, 5:21 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | LUB | Garza | 3 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 12:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 120 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 958 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 53 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 629 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 798 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 2.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
323 WWUS9 KMKC 241917 SEL3 MKC WW 241917 TXZ000-250200- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 193 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 217 PM CDT THU APR 24 1997 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF WEST TEXAS EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 300 PM UNTIL 900 PM CDT. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 3/4 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 70 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 60 MILES NORTHWEST OF MIDLAND TEXAS TO 35 MILES NORTH OF ABILENE TEXAS. REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AND INTENSIFY ALONG EAST/WEST BOUNDARY FROM NEAR HOB TO ABI. AIRMASS SOUTH OF THE BOUNDARY HAS WARMED INTO THE 70S...AND STEEP LAPSE RATES ASSOCIATED WITH COLD AIR ALOFT HAS RESULTED IN MODERATE INSTABILITY WITH LIFTED INDEX TO -5. VAD AND PROFILER WINDS SHOW STRONG DIRECTIONAL SHEAR AS WIND WINDS VEER AND INCREASE WITH HEIGHT...SUGGESTING POTENTIAL FOR A FEW STORMS TO DEVELOP ROTATION. ADDITIONAL WATCHES...WE ARE MONITORING AREA OF SOUTHWEST TEXAS ALONG THE DRY LINE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT AND POSSIBLE WATCH. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 3/4 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 420. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23030. ...WEISS 333,1025 335,0994 315,0994 313,1025
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 24, 4:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Crane, Pecos, Reagan, Terrell, Upton, Ward | 5 hr |
Nearby
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.