Alert archive / New Mexico / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Amarillo, TX

May 16, 1989Quay County, New Mexico

NWS Amarillo, TX issued this tornado warning at May 16, 1989, 10:13 AM MDT for Quay County, New Mexico. It was in force for 32 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 16, 1989, 10:13 AM MDT (16:13 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 1989, 10:45 AM MDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Amarillo, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Quay County, NM

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, 4.2 hours before the alert went out and 169 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 12:00Z on 1989-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 750 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 12:00Z on 1989-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 247 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
750 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-45 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
607 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
247 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
223 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
7.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KAMA 161614
TORAMA
NMC037-161645-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
1113 AM CDT (1013 AM MDT) TUE MAY 16 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AMARILLO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1145 AM CDT (1045 AM MDT)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL NEW MEXICO
          ...SOUTHERN QUAY
 
AT 950 AM MDT THE FIRE DEPARTMEMT AT HOUSE IN SOUTHERN QUAY COUNTY
REPORTED A TORNADO ON THE GROUND 3 MILES EAST OF MCALISTER MOVING
NORTHEAST. RADAR INDICATES THE ASSOCIATED STORM TO BE MOVING TO THE
NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.
 
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 CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 11:18 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAQuay57 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in New Mexico, 1989Every tornado warning in 1989Tornadoes 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.