Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Fort Worth, TX

May 2, 1989Stephens County, Texas

NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this tornado warning at May 2, 1989, 6:50 PM CDT for Stephens County, Texas. It was in force for 40 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 2, 1989, 6:50 PM CDT (23:50 UTC)
Expired: May 2, 1989, 7:30 PM CDT
In force: 40 min
Issued by: NWS Fort Worth, TX
Area: Whole counties

County Stephens 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 2, 7:00 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 0	Stephens, 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 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 2, 1:57 PM CDT, 4 hours 53 minutes before

<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

Special weather statement, May 2, 3:18 PM CDT, 3 hours 32 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FT WORTH TX
315 PM CDT TUE MAY 2 1989

AT 310 PM...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED ALONG THE RED RIVER FROM
NEAR TEXARKANA WEST TO JUST NORTH OF SHERMAN.  THE STRONGEST
THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED JUST SOUTHEAST OF PARIS TEXAS.  THE AREA
OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING EAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.  THE
THUNDERSTORMS WERE PERSISTING IN THE AIR OVERRUNNING A WARM FRONT
LOCATED FROM HOUSTON TO STEPHENVILLE TO CHILDRESS.  THE WARM FRONT
WAS MOVING SLOWLY NORTHWARD.

MEANWHILE...VERY UNSTABLE AIR WAS OVER THE WESTERN PART OF NORTH TEXAS
ALONG AND JUST WEST OF THE WARM FRONT.  THUNDERSTORMS COULD DEVELOP
IN AN AREA BOUNDED BY FORT WORTH...TO SOUTHWEST OKLAHOMA...TO NORTHWEST
OF ABILENE...AND BACK TO FORT WORTH...LATER THIS EVENING.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PART
OF NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS UNTIL 7 PM.  STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION
FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

Special weather statement, May 2, 4:45 PM CDT, 2 hours 5 minutes before

SPECIAL SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH TEXAS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
440 PM CDT TUE MAY 02 1989

...SEVERE WEATHER FOCUS SHIFTS FROM NORTHEAST PORTIONS OF NORTH
TEXAS TO NORTHWEST AND CENTRAL SECTIONS...

A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THAT PORTION OF NORTH TEXAS
GENERALLY WEST OF A WICHITA FALLS-ABILENE LINE. ANOTHER TORNADO WATCH
HAS BEEN ISSUED FROM THE WICHITA FALLS AREA EAST AND SOUTHEAST INTO
CENTRAL SECTIONS OF NORTH TEXAS...INCLUDING THE DALLAS-FORT WORTH
AND THE SHERMAN-DENISON AREAS. AT 4 PM A SURFACE LOW PRESSURE CENTER
WAS SITUATED NORTHEAST OF LUBBOCK...WITH A WARM FRONT EXTENDING
EAST-SOUTHEAST FROM THE LOW NEAR A MINERAL WELLS-CORSICANA-LUFKIN
LINE.

STRONG CONVERGENCE OF HEAT...MOISTURE...AND WIND WAS OCCURRING EAST
OF THE LOW AND ALONG THE WARM FRONT. THESE LOW LEVEL FACTORS WERE
COMBINING WITH A VERY UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERIC TEMPERATURE PROFILE
AND STRONG VERTICAL WIND SHEARS TO CREATE A LOCALIZED HIGH RISK OF
SEVERE WEATHER EAST OF THE LOW AND NEAR THE WARM FRONT.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING RAPIDLY WEST OF WICHITA FALLS AT
430 PM...WITH HALF DOLLAR SIZE HAIL ALREADY BEING REPORTED BETWEEN
WICHITA FALLS AND VERNON. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE SOUTHEAST
DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING...WITH A VERY STRONG THREAT OF
LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS..ESPECIALLY WITH STORMS NEAR THE WARM
FRONT. TORNADOES ARE A GREATER THREAT TODAY THAN IN THE PREVIOUS
SEVERAL DAYS OF SEVERE WEATHER ACROSS NORTH TEXAS...THERFORE STORM
SPOTTER ACTIVATION LIKELY WILL BE NEEDED FOR JUST ABOUT ANY
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY THAT DEVELOPS IN WEST AND CENTRAL NORTH TEXAS
DURING THE EVENING HOURS.

RESIDENTS IN THE DALLAS-FORT WORTH jAREA SHOULD BE READY FOR A
RELATIVELY HIGH PROBABILITY OF SEVERE WEATHER DURING THE EVENING
HOURS AS THUNDERSTORMS APPROACH FROM THE NORTHWEST.

Special weather statement, May 2, 6:26 PM CDT, 24 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WACO TX
520 PM CDT TUE MAY 2 1989

...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS UNTIL
   1000 PM CDT THIS EVENING...TO INCLUDE BOSQUE COUNTY...

AT 505 PM CDT AN AREA OF RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS WAS LOCATED NORTHWEST
OF A LINE FROM ABILENE...TO NEAR MINERAL WELLS...TO NEAR GAINSVILLE.
THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST ABOUT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

ALTHOUGH NO SEVERE WEATHER IS INDICATED OVER THE CENTRAL TEXAS AREA
...RESIDENTS ARE UREGED TO KEEP ABEAST OF THE LATEST SITUATION.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL RADIO OR TV FOR ADDITIONAL
STATEMENTS...OR WARNINGS SHOULD THE NEED ARISE.

07

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 2, 3:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Hardeman, Wilbarger	65 min
May 2, 4:06 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Foard, Knox	69 min
May 2, 4:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Wichita	60 min
May 2, 4:54 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Lamar	51 min
May 2, 5:04 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Archer, Baylor	56 min
May 2, 5:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Red River	59 min
May 2, 5:21 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Nolan	69 min
May 2, 5:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Haskell, Throckmorton	60 min
May 2, 6:23 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Stephens	67 min
May 2, 6:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Young	66 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 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.