Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 255

May 6, 19975 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 6, 1997, 2:45 PM MDT for 5 states. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 6, 1997, 2:45 PM MDT (20:45 UTC)
Expired: May 6, 1997, 8:00 PM MDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 24 counties

Baca County, CO, Finney County, KS, Grant County, KS, Gray County, KS, Haskell County, KS, Kearny County, KS, Meade County, KS, Morton County, KS, Seward County, KS, Stanton County, KS, Stevens County, KS, Harding County, NM, Union County, NM, Beaver County, OK, Cimarron County, OK, Texas County, OK, Dallam County, TX, Hansford County, TX, Hartley County, TX, Hutchinson County, TX, Lipscomb County, TX, Moore County, TX, Ochiltree County, TX, Sherman County, TX

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 194 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:48 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

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 6, 3:12 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PUB	Baca, Prowers	48 min
May 6, 4:26 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	PUB	Baca, Prowers	49 min
May 6, 4:53 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Cimarron	62 min
May 6, 6:03 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Cimarron	57 min
May 6, 6:53 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Texas	67 min
May 6, 7:08 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Hansford, Sherman	67 min
May 6, 7:13 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	AMA	Texas	47 min
May 6, 7:25 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	AMA	Sherman	50 min
May 6, 7:45 PM MDT	Tornado Warning	AMA	Moore	45 min

The nearest sounding before it

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 12:00Z, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 194 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: 1988 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 21 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 130 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.

707 
WWUS9 KMKC 062008
SEL5  
MKC WW 062008
KSZ000-COZ000-OKZ000-TXZ000-NMZ000-070200-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 255
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
308 PM CDT TUE MAY 6 1997

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

   SOUTHWEST KANSAS                             
   SOUTHEAST COLORADO                           
   OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE                           
   TEXAS PANHANDLE                              
   NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO                         

EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 345 PM UNTIL 900
PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 1/2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND
GUSTS TO 75 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE
AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 80 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 50 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF CLAYTON NEW MEXICO
TO 55 MILES SOUTHEAST OF GARDEN CITY KANSAS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 254...

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...VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS IN PLACE ACROSS WATCH AREA WITH
FAVORABLE SHEAR PROFILES FOR SUPERCELLS.  STORMS INITIATING OFF
HIGHER TERRAIN NM/CO WILL DEVELOP EAST AND SOUTHEAST INTO THE
UNSTABLE AIRMASS AND BECOME SEVERE.


AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 1/2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 65 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
520.  MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 27030.


...HALES

372,1035 383,1000 361,1000 350,1035

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 6, 3:15 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Chaves, Curry, De Baca, Guadalupe, Lea, Roosevelt	5 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Kansas, 1997 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.