Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 3, NWS Amarillo, TX
NWS Amarillo, TX issued this tornado warning at May 30, 1988, 9:53 PM CDT for Deaf Smith County, Texas. It was in force for 37 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 30, 1988, 9:53 PM CDT (02:53 UTC)
- Expired
- May 30, 1988, 10:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 37 min
- Issued by
- NWS Amarillo, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Deaf Smith 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, 2.9 hours before the alert went out and 87 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 310254
TORAMA
TXC117-310330-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
953 PM CDT MON MAY 30 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AMARILLO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE
...SOUTHERN DEAF SMITH
AT 947 PM CDT A SHERIFFS DEPUTY REPORTED NUMEROUS FUNNELS WEST OF
HEREFORD ...JUST SOUTH OF WESTWAY. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST
AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A C<LOSET 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 59 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, 9:47 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | AMA | Castro, Parmer | 28 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.