Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

June 4, 1989Howard County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 4, 1989, 2:37 AM CDT for Howard 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
Jun 4, 1989, 2:37 AM CDT (07:37 UTC)
Expired
Jun 4, 1989, 3:45 AM CDT
In force
68 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Howard 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 4, 2:53 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Howard, TX
Jun 4, 3:10 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Howard, 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, 7.6 hours before the alert went out and 82 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 040738
TORMAF
TXC227-040845-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
237 AM CDT SUN JUN 4 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  345 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHWEST TEXAS
          ...HOWARD
 
AT 235 AM CDT SHERIFFS DEPUTIES IN MARTIN COUNTY WERE WATCHING A
TORNADO THAT WAS 10 MILES NORTH OF STANTON MOVING EAST NORTHEAST. THIS
MOVEMENT WILL TAKE IT INTO HOWARD COUNTY DURING THE NEXT FEW MINUTES.
 
PERSONS IN THE NORTHWEST PART OF HOWARD COUNTY IN AND NEAR THE
COMMUNITIES OF KNOTT...FAIRVIEW...AND VEALMOOR NEED TO TAKE SHELTER AT
THIS TIME.
 
OTHER PORTIONS OF HOWARD SHOULD BE ON THE WATCH FOR SEVERE WEATHER AND
OTHER POSSIBLE TORNADOES FORMING FURTHER SOUTH ON THE THUNDERSTORM.
 
 
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.

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, 9:46 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFEctor59 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

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.