Alert archive / New Mexico / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 13, NWS Amarillo, TX
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.
- 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
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.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, 5:35 AM MDT, 4 hours 38 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 634 PM CDT TUE MAY 16 1989 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FORMING NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO AND NORTHWEST TEXAS PANHANDLE... AT 625 PM CDT AMARILLO RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLE HAIL EXTENDING FROM NEAR BEAVER OKLAHOMA SOUTHWEST TO NEAR DALHART TEXAS TO TUCUMCARI NEW MEXICO TO 30 MILES NORTH OF FORT SUMNER NEW MEXICO. STRONGEST PORTION OF THE LINE WAS BETWEEN TUCUMCARI AND THE TEXAS/NEW MEXICO STATE LINE...SOUTHWEST OF DALHART. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. PERSONS ALONG AND EAST OF THE LINE CAN EXPECT VERY HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WIND2...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...AND POSSIBLE HAIL DURING ITS PASSAGE.
Special weather statement, May 16, 5:40 AM MDT, 4 hours 33 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY...CORR FOR TIME NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 634 AM CDT TUE MAY 16 1989 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FORMING NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO AND NORTHWEST TEXAS PANHANDLE... AT 625 AM CDT AMARILLO RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLE HAIL EXTENDING FROM NEAR BEAVER OKLAHOMA SOUTHWEST TO NEAR DALHART TEXAS TO TUCUMCARI NEW MEXICO TO 30 MILES NORTH OF FORT SUMNER NEW MEXICO. STRONGEST PORTION OF THE LINE WAS BETWEEN TUCUMCARI AND THE TEXAS/NEW MEXICO STATE LINE...SOUTHWEST OF DALHART. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. PERSONS ALONG AND EAST OF THE LINE CAN EXPECT VERY HEAVY RAIN...STR6ONG GUSTY WIND...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...AND POSSIBLE HAIL DURING ITS PASSAGE.
Special weather statement, May 16, 6:40 AM MDT, 3 hours 33 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 738 AM CDT TUE MAY 16 1989 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN THE NORTHWEST TEXAS PANHANDLE... AT 730 AM CDT AMARILLO RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLE HAIL EXTENDING FROM NEAR STRATFORD... SOUTHWEST ACROSS DALHART TO THE CANADIAN RIVER ON THE TEXAS/NEW MEXICO STATE LINE. STRONGEST PORTION OF THE LINE WAS BETWEEN DALHART AND THE CANADIAN RIVER. MOVEMENT WAS SOUTHEAST AT 10 MILES AN HOUR. PERSONS ALONG AND EAST OF THE LINE CAN EXPECT VERY HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WIND...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...AND POSSIBLE HAIL DURING ITS PASSAGE.
Special weather statement, May 16, 7:44 AM MDT, 2 hours 29 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 840 AM CDT TUE MAY 16 1989 ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED ACROSS THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF THE TEXAS PANHANDLE... AT 830 AM CDT A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN AND SMALL HAIL EXTENDING FROM JUST NORTHEAST OF DALHART SOUTHWESTWARD TO JUST NORTH OF ADRIAN. ELSEWHERE SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE INDICATED ACROSS THE WESTERN HALF OF THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE. STRONGEST PORTION OF THE LINE WAS JUST EAST OF CHANNING WHERE VERY SMALL HAIL AND HEAVY RAIN WAS REPORTED. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AROUND 20 MILES AN HOUR. PERSONS ALONG AND EAST OF THE LINE CAN EXPECT VERY HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WIND...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...AND POSSIBLE HAIL DURING ITS PASSAGE.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Amarillo, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 16, 11:18 AM MDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Quay | 57 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.