Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 15, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

June 3, 1989Ector County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 3, 1989, 9:46 PM CDT for Ector County, Texas. It was in force for 59 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
Jun 3, 1989, 9:46 PM CDT (02:46 UTC)
Expired
Jun 3, 1989, 10:45 PM CDT
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Ector 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
Jun 3, 9:50 PM CDTHail 0.75Ector, TX
Jun 3, 9:59 PM CDTHail 1.75Ector, 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, 2.8 hours before the alert went out and 34 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 1989-06-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2368 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 1989-06-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 26 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
2368 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-81 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1708 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
26 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
30 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMAF 040247
TORMAF
TXC135-040345-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
946 PM CDT  JUN 3 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1045 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS
          ...ECTOR
 
AT 934 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED TWO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THAT APPEAR
TO HAVE THE CAPABILITY OF PRODUCING A TORNADO...OR VERY LARGE
HAIL...AND THEY ARE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. THEY
WERE LOCATED NEAR PENWELL...AND EAST OF GOLDSMITH.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A 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
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

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, Jun 3, 4:44 PM CDT, 5 hours 2 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
442 PM CDT SAT JUN 3 1989

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR MUCH OF WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEAST NEW
   MEXICO UNTIL 10 PM CDT...
...FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT SOUTH PLAINS...PERMIAN BASIN...BIG
   BEND...PANHANDLE AND CONCHO VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY
   TONIGHT...

AT 430 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS...WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...CONTINUED OVER
PARTS OF WEST TEXAS FROM TAHOKA TO NORTH OF LUBBOCK AND FROM WINK TO
MONAHANS EXTENDING SOUTHWEST TO NORTH OF FORT DAVIS.
OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE NOTED FROM SOUTH OF SAN ANGELO TO ABILENE AND
OVER THE BIG BEND NATIONAL PARK.

MOVEMENT WAS GENERALLY EAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR

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

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 3, 7:08 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFMidland67 min
Jun 3, 7:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFUpton55 min
Jun 3, 8:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFGlasscock62 min
Jun 3, 8:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEctor58 min
Jun 3, 9:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFGlasscock58 min
Jun 3, 10:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFMartin68 min
Jun 3, 10:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFMidland65 min
Jun 3, 11:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFGaines62 min
Jun 3, 11:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFWinkler62 min
Jun 3, 11:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFAndrews67 min
Jun 4, 1:08 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFAndrews52 min
Jun 4, 2:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFMartin55 min
Jun 4, 2:20 AM CDTTornado WarningMAFMartin55 min
Jun 4, 2:37 AM CDTTornado WarningMAFHoward68 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.