Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Amarillo, TX

May 3, 1989Oldham County, Texas

NWS Amarillo, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 3, 1989, 8:11 PM CDT for Oldham County, Texas. It was in force for 64 min. 3 reports 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 3, 1989, 8:11 PM CDT (01:11 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 1989, 9:15 PM CDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Amarillo, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Oldham 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 3, 8:35 PM CDTHail 0.75Oldham, TX
May 3, 8:53 PM CDTHail 0.75Oldham, TX
May 3, 9:03 PM CDTHail 0.75Oldham, 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, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 84 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 1989-05-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1989-05-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 89 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
65 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
89 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
185 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 040113
SVRAMA
TXC359-040215-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
811 PM CDT WED MAY 3 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AMARILLO HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  915 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE
          ...EASTERN OLDHAM
 
AT 810 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHEASTERN
OLDHAM COUNTY..JUST WEST OF BOYS RANCH. LARGE HAIL IS LIKELY WITH THIS
THUNDERSTORM. THE STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

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 3, 4:38 PM CDT, 3 hours 33 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
435 PM CDT WED MAY 3  1989

...THUNDERSTORMS INCREASING IN INTENSITY OVER NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO...

AT 425 PM CDT AMARILLO RADAR INDICATED A 50 MILE WIDE BAND OF SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL...EXTENDING FROM
NEAR CLAYTON NEW MEXICO...NORTHEAST ACROSS THE WESTERN OKLAHOMA
PANHANDLE INTO EXTREME SOUTHWEST KANSAS. STRONGEST ACTIVITY WAS JUST
TO THE NORTHWEST OF CLAYTON NEW MEXICO.

MOVEMENT WAS SOUTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

PERSONS NEAR THE STRONGER THUNERSTORMS CAN EXPECT PERIODS OF VERY
HEAVY RAINFALL...STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL.

STAY TUNED TO RADIO...TV...OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS
OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, May 3, 6:03 PM CDT, 2 hours 8 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
558 PM CDT WED MAY 3  1989

..THUNDERSTORMS INCREASING RAPIDLY IN THE OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS PANHANDLES..

AT 548 PM CDT AMARILLO RADAR INDICATED A LARGE THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY
HEAVY RAIN AND SMALL HAIL...LOCATED JUST SOUTHEAST OF BOISE CITY OKLAHOMA.
PEA SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED AT BOISE CITY DURING THE PASSAGE OF THIS
STORM...AT 536 PM CDT.

ANOTHER LARGE THUNDERSTORM...WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLE HAIL...
WAS LOCATED 10 MILES NORTH OF DALHART TEXAS.

BOTH STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

PERSONS IN CIMARRON AND DALLAM COUNTIES SHOULD BE ALERT FOR POSSIBLE
SEVERE WEATHER DURING THE PASSAGE OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Amarillo, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 3, 7:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMADallam, Hartley59 min
May 3, 7:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAPotter62 min
May 3, 7:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAHartley64 min
May 3, 8:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAPotter, Randall62 min
May 3, 8:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMADeaf Smith62 min
May 3, 9:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMARandall64 min
May 3, 9:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMADeaf Smith62 min
May 4, 2:20 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAGray55 min
May 4, 3:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMACollingsworth, Wheeler60 min
May 4, 3:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMADallam55 min
May 4, 4:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAMoore69 min
May 4, 4:30 PM CDTTornado WarningAMAMoore60 min
May 4, 4:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAHartley, Oldham, Potter60 min
May 4, 5:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMACarson67 min
May 4, 5:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMADeaf Smith, Randall69 min
May 4, 5:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAPotter62 min
May 4, 5:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAArmstrong66 min
May 4, 6:03 PM CDTTornado WarningAMARandall42 min
May 4, 6:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMASwisher59 min
May 4, 6:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMABriscoe, Donley65 min
May 4, 6:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAHall59 min
May 4, 6:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAWheeler48 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 1989Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1989

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.