Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Amarillo, TX
NWS Amarillo, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 16, 1986, 5:51 PM CDT for Donley County, Wheeler County, Texas. It was in force for 69 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- May 16, 1986, 5:51 PM CDT (22:51 UTC)
- Expired
- May 16, 1986, 7:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 69 min
- Issued by
- NWS Amarillo, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Donley County, TX, Wheeler County, TX
The radar
The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 16, 6:33 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Donley, TX |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.
The nearest sounding before it
Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 105 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
- 2600 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -330 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1833 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 26 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 174 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 200 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KAMA 162251 SVRAMA TXC129-483-170000- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 551 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1986 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF PANHANDLE OF TEXAS...DONLEY AND WHEELER THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING IN EFFECT FOR WHEELER HAS BEEN EXTENDED. AT 542PM CDT A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY RADAR IN WESTERN WHEELER COUNTY AND IN DONLEY COUNTY JUST WEST OF CLARENDON. MOVEMENT EAST NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA SO REMEMBER THESE STORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PROYDUCE A TORNADO WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING SO BE ON THE LOOKOUT. PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD MOVE TO SHELTER AND PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WINDS..LARGE HAIL.. HEAVY RAIN..AND DANGEROUS LIGHTENING.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 16, 4:32 PM CDT, 1 hour 19 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 430 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1986 ...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 180 IN EFFECT FROM 430 PM CDT UNTI 1100 PM CDT FOR THE EASTERN TWO THIRDS OF THE TEXAS PANHANDLE... AT 425 PM CDT AMARILLO RADAR INDICATED A LARGE VERY HEAVY THUNDER STORM JUST NORTHEAST OF GROOM..OR 20 MILES SOUTH OF PAMPA TEXAS. MOVEMENT WAS NORTH AT 15 MILES AN HOUR. THIS STORM MAY CONTAIN STRONG GUSTY WINDS..SMALL HAIL..AND VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. ANOTHER VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED IN NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO.. MIDWAY BETWEEN CLAYTON AND TUCUMCARI. MOVEMENT NORTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO DEVELOPING OVER THE SOUTHEAST TEXAS PANHANDLE..TO THE WEST AND SOUTHWEST OF CHILDRESS. PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Amarillo, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 16, 5:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Gray, Wheeler | 58 min |
| May 16, 6:12 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | AMA | Briscoe | 63 min |
| May 16, 6:25 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | AMA | Armstrong, Swisher | 65 min |
| May 16, 6:43 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | AMA | Donley | 62 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 1986Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1986
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.