Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Watches in 1997

Tornado Watch 752

October 11, 19975 states

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 11, 1997, 11:00 PM MDT for 5 states. It was in force for 6 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Oct 11, 1997, 11:00 PM MDT (05:00 UTC)
Expired: Oct 12, 1997, 5:00 AM MDT
In force: 6 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 35 counties

Baca County, CO, Bent County, CO, Cheyenne County, CO, Kiowa County, CO, Kit Carson County, CO, Prowers County, CO, Yuma County, CO, Cheyenne County, KS, Decatur County, KS, Grant County, KS, Greeley County, KS, Hamilton County, KS, Kearny County, KS, Logan County, KS, Morton County, KS, Rawlins County, KS, Scott County, KS, Sheridan County, KS, Sherman County, KS, Stanton County, KS, Thomas County, KS, Wallace County, KS, Wichita County, KS, Curry County, NM, Guadalupe County, NM, Harding County, NM, Quay County, NM, Union County, NM, Cimarron County, OK, Dallam County, TX, Deaf Smith County, TX, Hartley County, TX, Oldham County, TX, Parmer County, TX, Sherman County, TX

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 206 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:01 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

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 12, 1:44 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GLD	Sherman	51 min
Oct 12, 3:16 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GLD	Sherman	34 min
Oct 12, 3:50 AM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	GLD	Sherman, Thomas	35 min

The nearest sounding before it

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 00:00Z, 5.0 hours before the alert went out and 207 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: 679 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 637 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 142 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 166 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.3
Supercell composite: 2.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

738 
WWUS9 KMKC 120427
SEL2  
MKC WW 120427
NMZ000-COZ000-KSZ000-OKZ000-TXZ000-121100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 752
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1027 PM MDT SAT OCT 11 1997

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

   EAST CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO                         
   EAST CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST COLORADO                           
   WESTERN KANSAS                             
   WESTERN OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE                            
   NORTHWEST TEXAS PANHANDLE                              

EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY NIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING FROM 1100 PM UNTIL
500 AM MDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 3/4 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 40 MILES WEST OF CANNON AFB CLOVIS NEW MEXICO TO 50
MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF GOODLAND 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 747...WW 748...WW
749...WW 750...WW 751...

DISCUSSION...POTENTIAL FOR SUPERCELLS AND BOWS TO CONTINUE IN WATCH
AREA TONIGHT DESPITE BOUNDARY LAYER COOLING AS EXIT REGION
ASSOCIATED WITH 140 KT ARIZONA SPEED MAX CONTINUES E ACROSS REGION. 

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 3/4 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE
WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO
480.  MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 21545.


...CORFIDI

342,1051 400,1023 400,1000 342,1024

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 12, 5:30 AM MDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Barber, Barton, Clark, Comanche, Decatur, Edwards and 30 more	7 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Kansas, 1997 Tornado Watches in Colorado, 1997 Tornado Watches in Texas, 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.