Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 8, NWS Amarillo, TX
NWS Amarillo, TX issued this tornado warning at May 12, 1989, 7:36 PM CDT for Potter County, Texas. It was in force for 54 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 12, 1989, 7:36 PM CDT (00:36 UTC)
- Expired
- May 12, 1989, 8:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 54 min
- Issued by
- NWS Amarillo, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Potter 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 12, 8:20 PM CDT | Hail 1.5 | Potter, 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, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 26 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
- 580 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -163 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1079 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 46 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 43 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 80 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KAMA 130039
TORAMA
TXC375-130130-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
736 PM CDT FRI MAY 12 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AMARILLO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 830 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE
...NORTHWESTERN POTTER
AT 733 PM CDT A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC IN EXTREME EASTERN
OLDHAM COUNTY. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH AND WILL BE
MOVING INTO NORTHWEST POTTER COUNTY BY 740 PM. GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL HAS
ALSO BEEN REPORTED WITH THIS STORM.
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.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 12, 2:43 PM CDT, 4 hours 53 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 235 PM CDT FRI MAY 12 1989 ...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 210 CONTINUES IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM CDT FOR BRISCOE...CASTRO...CHILDRESS...HALL...PRMER AND SWISHER COUNTIES OF THE SOUTH TEXAS PANHANDLE... ...FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 100 AM SATURDAY FOR HALL AND CHILDRESS COUNTY OF THE SOUTHEAST TEXAS PANHANDLE... AT 225 PM CDT AMARILLO RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN SOUTH HALL COUNTY. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR. ELSEWHERE...LESS INTENSE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED BETWEEN CHILDRESS AND LUBBOCK TEXAS. AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM WAS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY ON THE TEXAS/NEW MEXICO STATE LINE...SOUTHWEST OF DALHART. THIS STORM MAY CONTAIN SMALL HAIL AND VERY HEAVY RAINFALL...AS IT MOVES TO THE NORTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR. PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREAS SHOULD RAMAIN ALERT AND LISTSEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WAR@NINGS.
Special weather statement, May 12, 2:49 PM CDT, 4 hours 47 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 235 PM CDT FRI MAY 12 1989 ...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 210 CONTINUES IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM CDT FOR BRISCOE...CASTRO...CHILDRESS...HALL...PRMER AND SWISHER COUNTIES OF THE SOUTH TEXAS PANHANDLE... ...FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 100 AM SATURDAY FOR HALL AND CHILDRESS COUNTIES OF THE SOUTHEAST TEXAS PANHANDLE... AT 225 PM CDT AMARILLO RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN SOUTH HALE COUNTY. MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR. ELSEWHERE...LESS INTENSE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED BETWEEN CHILDRESS AND LUBBOCK TEXAS. AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM WAS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY ON THE TEXAS/NEW MEXICO STATE LINE...SOUTHWEST OF DALHART. THIS STORM MAY CONTAIN SMALL HAIL AND VERY HEAVY RAINFALL...AS IT MOVES TO THE NORTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR. PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREAS SHOULD RAMAIN ALERT AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLJE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, May 12, 5:49 PM CDT, 1 hour 47 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 545 PM CDT FRI MAY 12 1989 ...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM CDT FOR MUCH OF THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES... ...FLASH FLOOD WATCH UNTIL 100 AM FOR THE SOUTHEAST TEXAS PANHANDLE... AT 530 PM CDT THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED IN THE NORTHWEST PANHANDLE OF TEXAS STRECTCHING INTO THE WESTERN PANHANDLE OF OKLAHOMA. THE THUNDER STORMS HAD DECREASED IN INTENSITY OVER THE PAST HOUR..HOWEVER GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED AT 500 PM 5 MILES SOUTH OF HARTLEY. SEVERAL FUNNEL CLOUDS HAVE ALSO BEEN REPORTED DURING THE PAST HOUR 5 MILES WEST OF STRATFORD..IN SHERMAN COUNTY. ELSEWHERE SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED OVER PORTIONS OF THE TEXAS PANHANDLE AND SOUTH PLAINS INTO WESTERN OKLAHOMA. THE THUNDER STORMS WITH THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL WERE LOCATED IN FLOYD AND MOTLEY COUNTIES OF THE TEXAS SOUTH PLAINS. DUE TO THE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL OVER THE PAST 240 HOURS OVER PORTIONS OF THE PANHANDLE..LOCALIZED STREET AND SMALL STREAM FLOODING IS POSSIBLE WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS AS THEY MOVE TOWARD THE NORTH EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. SC
The office that day
Everything else NWS Amarillo, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 12, 7:07 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Hartley, Oldham | 68 min |
| May 12, 8:15 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Hartley, Oldham, Potter | 60 min |
| May 12, 9:12 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Carson | 48 min |
| May 13, 5:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Moore | 40 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.