Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 1997
Tornado Watch 352
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 29, 1997, 3:15 PM CDT for 14 counties in Kansas; Beaver County, Texas County, Oklahoma; 19 counties in Texas. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- May 29, 1997, 3:15 PM CDT (20:15 UTC)
- Expired
- May 29, 1997, 9:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 35 counties
Clark County, KS, Finney County, KS, Ford County, KS, Grant County, KS, Gray County, KS, Hamilton County, KS, Haskell County, KS, Hodgeman County, KS, Kearny County, KS, Meade County, KS, Morton County, KS, Seward County, KS, Stanton County, KS, Stevens County, KS, Beaver County, OK, Texas County, OK, Armstrong County, TX, Carson County, TX, Collingsworth County, TX, Deaf Smith County, TX, Donley County, TX, Gray County, TX, Hansford County, TX, Hartley County, TX, Hemphill County, TX, Hutchinson County, TX, Lipscomb County, TX, Moore County, TX, Ochiltree County, TX, Oldham County, TX, Potter County, TX, Randall County, TX, Roberts County, TX, Sherman County, TX, Wheeler County, TX
The radar
The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 117 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:17 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
19 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 29, 3:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Hodgeman | 49 min |
| May 29, 3:35 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Ford | 45 min |
| May 29, 3:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Grant | 61 min |
| May 29, 4:11 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DDC | Ford | 49 min |
| May 29, 4:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Ford | 46 min |
| May 29, 4:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Morton | 33 min |
| May 29, 4:48 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | DDC | Ford | 2 hr |
| May 29, 4:57 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | DDC | Ford | 113 min |
| May 29, 5:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Morton, Stanton | 48 min |
| May 29, 5:07 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Ford | 48 min |
| May 29, 5:16 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DDC | Clark, Ford | 34 min |
| May 29, 5:39 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Morton | 46 min |
| May 29, 5:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Clark | 63 min |
| May 29, 6:04 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | DDC | Clark | 3 hr |
| May 29, 6:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Texas | 56 min |
| May 29, 7:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Texas | 41 min |
| May 29, 7:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Hansford | 63 min |
| May 29, 8:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Oldham | 44 min |
| May 29, 8:35 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Potter | 55 min |
The nearest sounding before it
Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 12:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 117 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
- 1214 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 41 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -45 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 188 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
322 WWUS9 KMKC 291941 SEL2 MKC WW 291941 KSZ000-OKZ000-TXZ000-300200- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 352 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 241 PM CDT THU MAY 29 1997 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHWESTERN KANSAS THE PANHANDLE OF OKLAHOMA THE NORTHERN PANHANDLE OF TEXAS EFFECTIVE THIS THURSDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 315 PM UNTIL 900 PM CDT. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 3/4 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 75 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF AMARILLO TEXAS TO 35 MILES NORTH OF GARDEN CITY KANSAS. 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 WILL INCREASE OVER WATCH AREA NEAR AND ALONG SURFACE BOUNDARIES AND AHEAD OF UPPER VORT AXIS. AIR MASS SHOWING MODERATE INSTABILITY WITH 1500 TO 2500 J/KG CAPES. 40 KT MID LEVEL NORTHWESTERLY FLOW AND VEERING WIND PROFILE INDICATE POTENTIAL FOR A FEW SUPERCELLS. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 3/4 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 29035. ...ROGASH 344,1025 382,1020 382,0991 344,1001
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 29, 6:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Barber, Comanche, Harper, Sumner | 6 hr |
| May 28, 7:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Crane, Ector, Loving, Midland, Pecos, Reeves and 4 more | 5 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Texas, 1997Tornado Watches in Kansas, 1997Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 1997Every 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.