Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1986
Tornado Warning 8, NWS Amarillo, TX
NWS Amarillo, TX issued this tornado warning at May 16, 1986, 6:43 PM CDT for Donley County, Texas. It was in force for 62 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 16, 1986, 6:43 PM CDT (23:43 UTC)
- Expired
- May 16, 1986, 7:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 62 min
- Issued by
- NWS Amarillo, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Donley 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 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 86 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 162343 TORAMA TXC129-170045- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 643 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1986 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 745 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF PANHANDLE OF TEXAS...DONLEY AT 633 PM CDT CLARENDON POLICE REPORTED A TORNADO 15 MILES SOUTH OF CLARENDON TEXAS. RADAR INDICATES A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN THIS SAME LOCATION. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 20 MILE AN HOUR. 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, May 16, 4:32 PM CDT, 2 hours 11 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, 5:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Donley, Wheeler | 69 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 |
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.