Alert archive / Kansas / Tornado Watches in 1997
Tornado Watch 754
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Oct 12, 1997, 6:30 AM CDT for 36 counties in Kansas. It was in force for 7 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Oct 12, 1997, 6:30 AM CDT (11:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 12, 1997, 1:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 7 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 36 counties
Barber County, KS, Barton County, KS, Clark County, KS, Comanche County, KS, Decatur County, KS, Edwards County, KS, Ellis County, KS, Ellsworth County, KS, Finney County, KS, Ford County, KS, Gove County, KS, Graham County, KS, Gray County, KS, Haskell County, KS, Hodgeman County, KS, Jewell County, KS, Kiowa County, KS, Lane County, KS, Lincoln County, KS, Meade County, KS, Mitchell County, KS, Ness County, KS, Norton County, KS, Osborne County, KS, Pawnee County, KS, Phillips County, KS, Pratt County, KS, Rooks County, KS, Rush County, KS, Russell County, KS, Scott County, KS, Seward County, KS, Sheridan County, KS, Smith County, KS, Stafford County, KS, Trego County, KS
The radar
The Dodge City radar (KDDC), 42 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:40 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.
The nearest sounding before it
Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 00:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 41 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
- 306 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -27 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 537 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 36 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 213 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 255 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.3
- Supercell composite
- 2.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
651 WWUS9 KMKC 121120 SEL4 MKC WW 121120 KSZ000-121800- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 754 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 620 AM CDT SUN OCT 12 1997 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL KANSAS EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON FROM 630 AM UNTIL 100 PM CDT. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 1/2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 80 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 55 MILES SOUTH OF DODGE CITY KANSAS TO 50 MILES NORTHEAST OF HILL 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...STRONG COLD FRONT ADVANCING INTO UNSTABLE AIR WHERE CAPES NEAR 1000 J/KG. VERY STRONG WIND SHEAR PRESENT WITH 50 KT LOW LEVEL JET AND 70 TO 80 KT FLOW AT MID LEVELS. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 1/2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 20050. ...ROGASH 365,1011 395,1003 395,0974 365,0983
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 12, 12:00 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Cheyenne, Decatur, Grant, Greeley, Hamilton, Kearny and 10 more | 6 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.