Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 2, NWS Amarillo, TX
NWS Amarillo, TX issued this tornado warning at May 30, 1988, 9:47 PM CDT for Castro County, Parmer County, Texas. It was in force for 28 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 30, 1988, 9:47 PM CDT (02:47 UTC)
- Expired
- May 30, 1988, 10:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 28 min
- Issued by
- NWS Amarillo, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Castro County, TX, Parmer 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 30, 9:55 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Parmer, 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 00:00Z, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 108 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
- 2140 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -11 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1261 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 28 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 112 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 193 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.9
- Supercell composite
- 6.8
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KAMA 310247
TORAMA
TXC069-369-310315-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
947 PM CDT MON MAY 30 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AMARILLO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE
...WESTERN CASTRO...EASTERN PARMER
AT 943 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE
TORNADO IN EASTERN PARMER COUNTY ABOUT 10 MILES EAST OF FRIONA.
THE MOVEMENT WAS EAST NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR. THIS STORM
SHOULD REACH CASTRO COUNTY IN THE NEXT 20 MINUTES.
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WOR2KBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.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 30, 7:54 PM CDT, 1 hour 53 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 750 PM CDT MON MAY 30 1988 AT 740 PM CDT ....A LINE OF VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED FROM 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF BOISE CITY OKLAHOMA TO 20 MILES WEST OF DALHART TEXAS AND FROM 20 MILES SOUTHEAST OF TUCUMCARI NEW MEXICO TO 25 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DIMMITT TEXAS. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR. THESE THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAuVY RAIN..DANGEROUS LIGHTNING STRIKES AND DAMAGING WINDS. KEEP TUNED TO YOUR NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL RADIO/TV STATIONS FOR LATER STATEMENTS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Amarillo, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 30, 8:41 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Castro | 64 min |
| May 30, 9:53 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | AMA | Deaf Smith | 37 min |
| May 31, 3:28 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | AMA | Deaf Smith, Moore, Oldham | 2 hr |
| May 31, 3:28 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | AMA | Parmer | 2 hr |
| May 31, 3:28 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | AMA | Hansford, Hutchinson | 2 hr |
| May 31, 5:36 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | AMA | Potter, Randall | 2 hr |
| May 31, 5:36 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | AMA | Castro | 2 hr |
| May 31, 7:46 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | AMA | Hemphill, Lipscomb, Ochiltree, Roberts | 4 hr |
| May 31, 7:46 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | AMA | Castro, Randall | 4 hr |
| May 31, 7:46 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | AMA | Carson, Hansford, Hutchinson, Moore, Potter | 4 hr |
| May 31, 1:18 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | AMA | Collingsworth | 57 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1988Every tornado warning in 1988Tornadoes in 1988
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.