Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 15, NWS Amarillo, TX
NWS Amarillo, TX issued this tornado warning at May 16, 1989, 2:41 PM CDT for Oldham County, Texas. It was in force for 49 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 16, 1989, 2:41 PM CDT (19:41 UTC)
- Expired
- May 16, 1989, 3:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 49 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 16, 2:55 PM CDT | Tornado F1 | Oldham, 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 12:00Z, 7.7 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.
- 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
The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.
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, 8:44 AM CDT, 5 hours 57 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 15, 7:14 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Dallam, Sherman | 61 min |
| May 15, 7:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Deaf Smith, Oldham | 55 min |
| May 15, 7:29 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | AMA | Deaf Smith | 46 min |
| May 15, 7:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Armstrong, Randall | 57 min |
| May 15, 8:00 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | AMA | Potter, Randall | 45 min |
| May 15, 8:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Deaf Smith, Oldham | 62 min |
| May 15, 8:39 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Hartley, Moore, Potter | 66 min |
| May 15, 8:48 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Armstrong | 57 min |
| May 15, 9:07 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | AMA | Oldham | 53 min |
| May 16, 11:23 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Hansford, Sherman | 67 min |
| May 16, 12:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Ochiltree | 54 min |
| May 16, 1:07 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | AMA | Deaf Smith | 53 min |
| May 16, 1:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Lipscomb | 45 min |
| May 16, 1:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Deaf Smith, Oldham | 54 min |
| May 16, 3:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Potter | 55 min |
| May 16, 3:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Childress | 57 min |
| May 16, 3:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Potter | 62 min |
| May 16, 4:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Collingsworth | 66 min |
| May 16, 4:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Wheeler | 59 min |
| May 16, 4:35 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Deaf Smith, Oldham | 55 min |
| May 16, 4:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Potter, Randall | 63 min |
| May 16, 5:29 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Wheeler | 61 min |
| May 16, 5:32 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | AMA | Potter, Randall | 43 min |
| May 16, 5:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Potter, Randall | 56 min |
| May 16, 6:11 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | AMA | Potter, Randall | 64 min |
| May 16, 11:13 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | AMA | Quay | 32 min |
| May 16, 12:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Quay | 57 min |
| May 15, 7:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Texas | 64 min |
| May 16, 11:48 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Texas | 57 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Texas, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.