Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 18, NWS Amarillo, TX

May 17, 1989Texas County, Oklahoma

NWS Amarillo, TX issued this tornado warning at May 17, 1989, 3:23 PM CDT for Texas County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 37 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 17, 1989, 3:23 PM CDT (20:23 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 1989, 4:00 PM CDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Amarillo, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Texas County, OK

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, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 170 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 1989-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 93 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 1989-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 83 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
93 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-83 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1018 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
73 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
83 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
67 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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 17, 11:40 AM CDT, 3 hours 43 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
1139 AM CDT WED MAY 17 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS RAPIDLY DEVELOPING IN EASTERN NEW MEXICO AND ALONG
   THE TEXAS NEW MEXICO STATE LINE...

AT 1125 AM CDT RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS IN EASTERN NEW MEXICO IN AN
AREA 20 MILES SOUTH OF CLOVIS...TO 25 MILES NORTHWEST OF TUCUMCARI TO
ABOUT 25 MILES SOUTH OF CLAYTON.  OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN WESTERN
BAILEY COUNTY OF THE NORTHWEST TEXAS SOUTH PLAINS AND IN THE NORTHWEST
TEXAS PANHANDLE.

SMALL HAIL...BRIEF RAIN AND LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE AT THIS TIME.
HOWEVER...THE ADDITIONAL RAIN MAY CAUSE FLOODING OF LOW LYING AND FLOOD
PRONE AREAS DUE TO THE GROUND BEING WET AND SATaURATED ALREADY.

PERSONS NEAR THESE STORMS SHOULD BE AWARE OF THESE POSSIBILITIES.  KEEP
TUNED TO RADIO OR TV FOR FURTHER UPDATES.

MOVEMENT OF THE STORMS WAS TO THE NORTH AT 15 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 7:00 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningAMAPotter, Randall3 hr
May 16, 7:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMACarson, Potter61 min
May 16, 8:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMACarson, Hutchinson60 min
May 16, 8:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAOchiltree62 min
May 16, 9:56 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningAMACarson64 min
May 16, 9:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMACarson64 min
May 17, 12:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAParmer64 min
May 17, 1:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAParmer62 min
May 17, 2:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMADeaf Smith59 min
May 17, 2:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAHartley63 min
May 17, 3:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAOldham, Potter59 min
May 17, 3:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMARandall, Swisher69 min
May 17, 4:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAPotter65 min
May 17, 4:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAHall67 min
May 17, 5:16 PM CDTTornado WarningAMAChildress29 min
May 17, 1:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAQuay56 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Oklahoma, 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.