Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Watches in 1997
Tornado Watch 515
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jun 24, 1997, 4:30 PM CDT for 39 counties in Kansas. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Jun 24, 1997, 4:30 PM CDT (21:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 24, 1997, 11:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 39 counties
Cheyenne County, KS, Clark County, KS, Comanche County, KS, Decatur County, KS, Edwards County, KS, Ellis County, KS, Finney County, KS, Ford County, KS, Gove County, KS, Graham County, KS, Grant County, KS, Gray County, KS, Greeley County, KS, Hamilton County, KS, Haskell County, KS, Hodgeman County, KS, Kearny County, KS, Kiowa County, KS, Lane County, KS, Logan County, KS, Meade County, KS, Morton County, KS, Ness County, KS, Norton County, KS, Pawnee County, KS, Phillips County, KS, Rawlins County, KS, Rooks County, KS, Rush County, KS, Scott County, KS, Seward County, KS, Sheridan County, KS, Sherman County, KS, Stanton County, KS, Stevens County, KS, Thomas County, KS, Trego County, KS, Wallace County, KS, Wichita County, KS
The radar
The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 116 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:29 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
27 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 24, 4:53 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GLD | Sheridan | 47 min |
| Jun 24, 5:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Norton | 64 min |
| Jun 24, 5:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Decatur | 34 min |
| Jun 24, 5:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Stanton | 28 min |
| Jun 24, 5:43 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | GLD | Sheridan | 32 min |
| Jun 24, 5:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Morton, Stanton | 62 min |
| Jun 24, 5:55 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DDC | Stanton | 35 min |
| Jun 24, 5:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Sheridan | 64 min |
| Jun 24, 6:04 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Stevens | 31 min |
| Jun 24, 6:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Greeley | 66 min |
| Jun 24, 6:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Hamilton | 62 min |
| Jun 24, 6:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Greeley | 47 min |
| Jun 24, 6:35 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Stevens | 50 min |
| Jun 24, 6:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Trego | 48 min |
| Jun 24, 7:08 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Haskell | 62 min |
| Jun 24, 7:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Hamilton, Kearny | 48 min |
| Jun 24, 7:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Trego | 49 min |
| Jun 24, 7:38 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Finney, Gray | 47 min |
| Jun 24, 7:49 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | DDC | Trego | 31 min |
| Jun 24, 7:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Ellis | 48 min |
| Jun 24, 8:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Trego | 46 min |
| Jun 24, 8:32 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | DDC | Ellis, Trego | 4 hr |
| Jun 24, 8:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Lane, Ness | 62 min |
| Jun 24, 8:54 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Ellis | 31 min |
| Jun 24, 9:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | DDC | Pawnee, Rush | 62 min |
| Jun 24, 9:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Wichita | 65 min |
| Jun 24, 10:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | GLD | Wallace | 47 min |
The nearest sounding before it
Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 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
- 1173 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -340 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 950 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 21 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 364 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 406 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
379 WWUS9 KMKC 242102 SEL5 MKC WW 242102 KSZ000-250400- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 515 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 402 PM CDT TUE JUN 24 1997 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN KANSAS EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 430 PM UNTIL 1100 PM CDT. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 80 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 55 MILES NORTHWEST OF HILL CITY KANSAS TO 25 MILES EAST OF LIBERAL 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. OTHER WATCH INFORMATION... CONTINUE...WW 514... DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS WILL INCREASE RAPIDLY ALONG COLD FRONT AND ESPECIALLY NEAR SURFACE LOW WHERE LOW LEVEL CONVERGENCE MOST PRONOUNCED. AIR MASS EXTREMELY UNSTABLE WITH 4500 TO 5500 J/KG CAPES. WINDS ALOFT WILL INCREASE AS UPPER VORT AXIS EJECTS FROM CENTRAL ROCKIES. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24030. ...ROGASH 395,0990 370,0990 370,1015 395,1020
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.