Alert archive / Ohio / Tornado Watches in 1997
Tornado Watch 555
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jul 2, 1997, 5:30 PM EDT for 37 counties in Ohio. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Jul 2, 1997, 5:30 PM EDT (21:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Jul 2, 1997, 11:00 PM EDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 37 counties
Ashland County, OH, Ashtabula County, OH, Clinton County, OH, Coshocton County, OH, Crawford County, OH, Cuyahoga County, OH, Delaware County, OH, Erie County, OH, Fairfield County, OH, Fayette County, OH, Franklin County, OH, Geauga County, OH, Guernsey County, OH, Hocking County, OH, Holmes County, OH, Huron County, OH, Knox County, OH, Lake County, OH, Licking County, OH, Lorain County, OH, Madison County, OH, Marion County, OH, Medina County, OH, Morgan County, OH, Morrow County, OH, Muskingum County, OH, Perry County, OH, Pickaway County, OH, Portage County, OH, Richland County, OH, Seneca County, OH, Stark County, OH, Summit County, OH, Trumbull County, OH, Tuscarawas County, OH, Union County, OH, Wayne County, OH
The radar
The Cleveland radar (KCLE), 129 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:34 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
15 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2, 5:44 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CLE | Marion | 61 min |
| Jul 2, 5:53 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILN | Union | 32 min |
| Jul 2, 6:03 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILN | Madison | 47 min |
| Jul 2, 6:13 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | ILN | Franklin | 62 min |
| Jul 2, 6:16 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILN | Delaware | 34 min |
| Jul 2, 6:34 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILN | Licking | 46 min |
| Jul 2, 6:43 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILN | Pickaway | 47 min |
| Jul 2, 6:54 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILN | Fairfield | 46 min |
| Jul 2, 7:02 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILN | Clinton | 48 min |
| Jul 2, 7:05 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | PBZ | Muskingum | 55 min |
| Jul 2, 7:05 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | RLX | Perry | 40 min |
| Jul 2, 7:08 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILN | Fayette | 47 min |
| Jul 2, 7:17 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | ILN | Hocking | 33 min |
| Jul 2, 9:43 PM EDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | CLE | Ashtabula | 62 min |
| Jul 2, 10:08 PM EDT | Tornado Warning | CLE | Ashtabula | 52 min |
The nearest sounding before it
Cncnati-Daytn, OH (KILN), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 150 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
- 88 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -213 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1070 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 42 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 88 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 154 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
157 WWUS9 KMKC 022053 SEL5 MKC WW 022053 OHZ000-LEZ000-030300- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 555 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 453 PM EDT WED JUL 2 1997 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF OHIO SOUTHERN LAKE ERIE EFFECTIVE THIS WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 530 PM UNTIL 1100 PM EDT. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 85 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 60 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST OF A LINE FROM 45 MILES SOUTH OF COLUMBUS OHIO TO 40 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF CLEVELAND OHIO. 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 553...WW 554... DISCUSSION...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER EXTREME WEST CENTRAL OHIO AND EAST CENTRAL INDIANA ARE EXPECTED TO PROPAGATE EAST- SOUTHEASTWARD TOWARD CENTRAL OHIO. AIR MASS HAS DESTABILIZED INTO CENTRAL OHIO AS SURFACE DEW POINTS HAVE INCREASED INTO THE MID 70S...AND MOISTURE ADVECTION IS FORECAST INTO EASTERN OHIO THIS EVENING. THE WESTERN OHIO STORMS HAVE ACCELERATED DURING THE LAST HOUR WITH INCREASING POTENTIAL FOR BOW ECHO DEVLOPMENT. OTHER SEVERE STORMS WITH TORNADIC SIGNATURES OVER SOUTHEAST LOWER MICHIGAN MAY DEVELOP SOUTHWARD INTO NORTHWEST OHIO DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS AS NOSE OF VERY STRONG MID/UPPER LEVEL JET STREAK APPROACHES FROM THE WEST. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 75 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 25040. ...WEISS 392,0840 415,0824 415,0802 392,0814
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jul 2, 2:00 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Allen, Auglaize, Butler, Champaign, Darke, Defiance and 21 more | 6 hr |
| Jul 2, 6:15 PM EDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Adams, Athens, Brown, Butler, Clermont, Clinton and 12 more | 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.