Alert archive / Wyoming / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 39, NWS Cheyenne, WY

July 12, 1989Sweetwater County, Wyoming

NWS Cheyenne, WY issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 12, 1989, 5:25 PM MDT for Sweetwater County, Wyoming. It was in force for 65 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
Jul 12, 1989, 5:25 PM MDT (23:25 UTC)
Expired
Jul 12, 1989, 6:30 PM MDT
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Cheyenne, WY
Area
Whole counties

County Sweetwater County, WY

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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jul 12, 6:00 PM MDTHail 0.75Sweetwater, WY

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

Lander/Hunt Fiel, WY (KLND), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 130 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, Lander/Hunt Fiel, WY at 12:00Z on 1989-07-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lander/Hunt Fiel, WY at 12:00Z on 1989-07-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 86 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
86 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
142 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCYS 122325
SVRCYS
WYC037-130030-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
525 PM MDT WED JUL 12 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 630 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTY

   IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL PART OF WYOMING
      WEST CENTRAL SWEETWATER COUNTY

THIS WARNING INCLUDES THE TOWNS OF GREEN RIVER AND ROCK SPRINGS.

RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ABOUT 15 MILES SOUTH OF GREEN
RIVER MOVING NORTH AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.  IT PRODUCED STRONG GUSTY
WINDS AND BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AS IT WENT OVER THE FLAMING GORGE MARINA
AT 515 PM.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE UNTIL THE STORM PASSES.

DASELER

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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, Jul 12, 3:30 PM MDT, 1 hour 55 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
330 PM MDT WED JUL 12 1989

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP OVER WYOMING THIS AFTERNOON...

WIDESPREAD THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED OVER WYOMING THIS AFTERNOON. MOST
OF THE STORMS WERE CONCENTRATED OVER NORTHWEST WYOMING...FROM THE
YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK TO THE BIG HORN MOUNTAINS. HOWEVER...
THUNDERSTORMS ALSO OCCURRED OVER SOUTHWEST WYOMING...THE WIND RIVER
MOUNTAINS...AND THE NORTHEAST PLAINS.

SOME OF THESE STORMS PRODUCED WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 35 MILES AN
HOUR. A THUNDERSTORM ALSO PRODUCED A WIND GUST TO 51 MILES AN HOUR
AT CODY EARLIER THIS AFTERNOON.

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE OVER THE STATE THROUGH MOST
OF TONIGHT...ALTHOUGH THEY WILL DECREASE OVER THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE
STATE AFTER SUNSET. THESE STORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING BRIEF
HEAVY RAIN AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING.
>
MENTZER
Special weather statement, Jul 12, 5:00 PM MDT, 25 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
500 PM MDT WED JUL 12 1989

...A FEW STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED IN SOUTHWEST WYOMING
   AT 5 PM...

WEATHER RADAR AND LIGHTNING STRIKE SENSORS SHOWED THAT THE STRONGEST
STORMS WERE LOCATED NEAR THE TOWN OF GREEN RIVER AND SOUTH NEAR THE
FLAMING GORGE RESERVOIR.  THE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTH AT ABOUT 20
MILES AN HOUR.

PEOPLE IN THE WESTERN PART OF SWEETWATER COUNTY...ESPECIALLY NEAR
GREEN RIVER...SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING GUSTY
WINDS...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND POSSIBLY SOME
SMALL HAIL UNTIL 630 PM.

DASELER

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Wyoming, 1989Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.