Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 39, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

May 31, 1989Midland County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 31, 1989, 12:07 AM CDT for Midland County, Texas. It was in force for 68 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 31, 1989, 12:07 AM CDT (05:07 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1989, 1:15 AM CDT
In force
68 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Midland 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 31, 12:08 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 51Midland, TX
May 31, 1:10 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 50Midland, 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

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 00:00Z, 5.1 hours before the alert went out and 18 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, Midland Regional, TX at 00:00Z on 1989-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 413 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, Midland Regional, TX at 00:00Z on 1989-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 91 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
413 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-166 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2572 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
91 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
205 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMAF 310510
SVRMAF
TXC329-310615-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
1207 AM CDT WED MAY 31 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  115 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS
          ...MIDLAND
 
AT 1207AM CDT A THUNDERSTORM AT THE MIDLAND INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT
PRODUCED WINDS OF 55 MILES AN HOUR. INDICATIONS ARE THAT THIS
THUNDERSTORM WILL PRODUCE WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MILES AN HOUR AS IT
MOVES ACROSS THE CITY OF MIDLAND.
 
 
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 AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

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, May 30, 7:36 PM CDT, 4 hours 31 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
735 PM CDT TUE MAY 30 1989

AT 730 PM CDT THUNDERSTORMS...WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...WERE WIDELY
SCATTERED OVER A 160 MILE WIDE AREA FROM NEAR SANDERSON TO NEAR
LUBBOCK. THE HEAVIEST RAIN WAS LOCATED 20 MILES NORTHEAST OF FORT
STOCKTON...10 MILES EAST OF CRANE...AND ABOUT 25 MILES NORTHEAST OF
LAMESA.
MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE HIGH WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...
AND LARGE HAIL.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL RADIO AND TV FOR FURTHER
STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, May 30, 8:39 PM CDT, 3 hours 28 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
838 PM CDT TUE MAY 30 1989

AT 830 PM...THUNDERSTORMS...WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...WERE WIDELY
SCATTERED OVER A 100 MILE WIDE AREA FROM THE DAVIS MOUNTAINS TO
NEAR BIG SPRING. THE HEAVIEST RAIN WAS LOCATED ABOUT 30 MILES NORTH
OF FORT STOCKTON.

OTHER AREAS OF THUNDERSTORMS...WITH HEAVY RAIN...WERE LOCATED JUST TO
THE EAST OF SANDERSON AND TO THE SOUTHEAST OF LUBBOCK.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE STRONG WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...
AND POSSIBLY LARGE HAIL.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL RADIO AND TV FOR FURTHER
STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 31, 3:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFReeves55 min
May 31, 4:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFPecos61 min
May 31, 5:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFPecos62 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 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.