Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Amarillo, TX

July 12, 1986Armstrong County, Texas

NWS Amarillo, TX issued this tornado warning at Jul 12, 1986, 8:01 PM CDT for Armstrong County, Texas. It was in force for 59 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 12, 1986, 8:01 PM CDT (01:01 UTC)
Expired
Jul 12, 1986, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Amarillo, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Armstrong County, TX

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 43 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 1986-07-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1517 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 1986-07-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -10 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
1517 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-24 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2862 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-10 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
10 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KAMA 130101
TORAMA
TXC011-130200-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
801 PM CDT SAT JUL 12 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 900 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

PANHANDLE OF TEXAS...ARMSTRONG

AT 755 PM CDT TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY REPORTS A
TORNADO 2 MILES SOUTH AND 4 MILES WEST OF CALUDE TEXAS.
RADARa INDICATE LITTLE MOVEMENT TO THIS STORM.

 IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO..GO TO A
 BASEMENT SHELTER OR A CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM ON
 THE LOWEST FLOOR. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
 FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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, Jul 12, 6:38 PM CDT, 1 hour 23 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
 635 PM CDT SAT JUL 12 1986
 ...LINE OF VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN SOUTHEAST TEXAAS
PANHANDLE...

AT 628 PM CDT AMARILLO RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF VERY HEAVY THUNDER
STORMS EXTENDING FROM JUST NORTH OF SHAMROCK TEXAS..SOUTHWEST ACROSS
CLARENDON TO NEAR MULESHOE ON THE TEXAS SOUTH PLAINS.

STRONGEST ACTIVITY WAS IN WHEELER COUNTY OF THE EAST TEXAS PANHANDLE
..NEAR THE CITY OF WHEELER. THIS STORM MAY PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS
AND SMALL HAIL DURING THE NEXT HOUR.

THE LINE WAS SHOWING LITTLE MOVEMENT..SO SOME FLOODING OF ROADWAYS AND
LOW LYING AREAS MAY OCCUR DURING THE EVENING.

MOTORI*ST AND CAMPERS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT.

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1986Every tornado warning in 1986Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.