Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 227

May 1, 19978 counties in Oklahoma; 13 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 1, 1997, 4:45 PM CDT for 8 counties in Oklahoma; 13 counties in Texas. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 1, 1997, 4:45 PM CDT (21:45 UTC)
Expired: May 1, 1997, 10:00 PM CDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 21 counties

Beckham County, OK, Custer County, OK, Greer County, OK, Harmon County, OK, Jackson County, OK, Kiowa County, OK, Tillman County, OK, Washita County, OK, Briscoe County, TX, Carson County, TX, Childress County, TX, Collingsworth County, TX, Cottle County, TX, Donley County, TX, Foard County, TX, Gray County, TX, Hall County, TX, Hardeman County, TX, Motley County, TX, Wheeler County, TX, Wilbarger County, TX

Warnings issued inside it

10 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 1, 5:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Greer, Harmon	62 min
May 1, 5:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Hemphill, Wheeler	29 min
May 1, 6:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Greer, Kiowa	48 min
May 1, 6:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Kiowa	64 min
May 1, 7:49 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Beckham	41 min
May 1, 8:20 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Beckham, Custer, Washita	55 min
May 1, 8:58 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	OUN	Washita	47 min
May 1, 9:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Blaine, Caddo, Custer	40 min
May 1, 9:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Washita	40 min
May 1, 9:36 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Gray, Wheeler	69 min

The nearest sounding before it

Fort Sill, OK (KFSI), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 131 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1634 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 58 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 73 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 257 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.

203 
WWUS9 KMKC 012106
SEL7  
MKC WW 012106
TXZ000-OKZ000-020300-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 227
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
406 PM CDT THU MAY 1 1997

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   THE TEXAS PANHANDLE AND NORTHWEST TEXAS                        
   SOUTHWEST OKLAHOMA                           

EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 445 PM UNTIL
1000 PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 3 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 EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 60 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF CLINTON OKLAHOMA TO 60
MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF CHILDRESS 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...STORMS ARE BEGINNING TO DEVELOP ALONG THE DRYLINE
ACROSS THE EASTERN TEXAS PANHANDLE. AIRMASS RECOVERY CONTINUES OVER
THE REGION WITH CAPES NOW IN THE 2000-3000 J/KG RANGE. A FEW
SUPERCELLS CAN BE EXPECTED...PRODUCING VERY LARGE HAIL AND ISOLATED
TORNADOES.


AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25025.


...VESCIO

354,0985 333,0984 333,1010 354,1012

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 1, 4:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Beaver, Texas	6 hr
May 1, 6:45 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Alfalfa, Blaine, Dewey, Ellis, Harper, Major and 3 more	4 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Texas, 1997 Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 1997 Every tornado watch 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.