Alert archive / Wyoming / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Cheyenne, WY

May 30, 1989Sweetwater County, Uinta County, Wyoming

NWS Cheyenne, WY issued this tornado warning at May 30, 1989, 1:42 PM MDT for Sweetwater County, Uinta County, Wyoming. It was in force for 63 min. 2 reports 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 30, 1989, 1:42 PM MDT (19:42 UTC)
Expired: May 30, 1989, 2:45 PM MDT
In force: 63 min
Issued by: NWS Cheyenne, WY
Area: Whole counties

Counties Sweetwater County, WY, Uinta 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 30, 2:35 PM MDT	Tornado F0	Uinta, WY
May 30, 2:35 PM MDT	Tornado F0	Sweetwater, 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

Salt Lake City I, UT (KSLC), launched 12:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 199 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 77 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -170 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1570 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 72 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCYS 301942
TORCYS
WYC037-041-302045-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
142 PM MDT TUE MAY 30 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 245 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES

   IN THE SOUTH CENTRAL PART OF WYOMING
      WESTERN SWEETWATER COUNTY...

   IN THE SOUTHWEST PART OF WYOMING
      EASTERN UNITA COUNTY...

THIS TORNADO WARNING INCLUDES THE CITIES OF ROCK SPRINGS...LYMAN..
GREEN RIVER AND MOUNTAIN VIEW.

A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND AT 135 PM MDT ONE HALF MILE
SOUTH OF LYMAN...35 MILES EAST OF EVANSTON. A TORNADO WAS ALSO
REPORTED 20 MILES SOUTH OF GRANGER...WHICH IS 40 MILES SOUTHEAST
OF KEMMERER. THE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING THE TORNADOES WERE MOVING
TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS 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 ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY.

WEILAND

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 30, 12:44 PM MDT, 58 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CHEYENNE WY
1243 PM MDT TUE MAY 30 1989

...COLD CORE FUNNEL CLOUD SOUTHWEST WYOMING...

THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING OVER SOUTHWEST WYOMING AT NOON TODAY.
MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS WERE TO THE NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 15 TO 20 MPH.
AT 1223 PM MDT AN OBSERVER REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD ASSOCIATED WITH
ONE OF THESE STORMS ABOUT 50 MILES SOUTHEAST OF ROCK SPRINGS WYOMING
IN SWEETWATER COUNTY.  THE FUNNEL CLOUD WAS BELIEVED TO BE A RESULT
OF COLD AIR ALOFT ASSOCIATED WITH AN INTENSE LOW PRESSURE CENTER
LOCATED IN SOUTHWEST UTAH.

AS THESE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP LATER TODAY...PEOPLE IN SOUTHWEST
WYOMING SHOULD BE ALERT FOR RAINS...WINDS AND LIGHTNING ASSOCIATED
WITH THESE STORMS.  COLD CORE FUNNEL CLOUDS LIKE THE ONE REPORTED
SHORTLY AFTER NOON TODAY...ARE ALSO POSSIBLE.  BE SURE TO REPORT
ANY SIGNIFICANT WEATHER IMMEDIATELY TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT
ON DIRECTLY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
PARKER

The office that day

Everything else NWS Cheyenne, WY issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 29, 7:54 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CYS	Laramie	66 min
May 30, 2:23 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CYS	Lincoln	67 min
May 30, 3:36 PM MDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CYS	Sweetwater	69 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Wyoming, 1989 Every tornado warning in 1989 Tornadoes 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.