Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 4, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at May 11, 1989, 6:49 PM CDT for Upton County, Texas. It was in force for 41 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 11, 1989, 6:49 PM CDT (23:49 UTC)
- Expired
- May 11, 1989, 7:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 41 min
- Issued by
- NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Upton 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 11, 7:25 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Upton, 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 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 66 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- NaN m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 26 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 253 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 268 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KMAF 112350
TORMAF
TXC461-120030-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
649 PM CDT THU MAY 11 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS
...UPTON
AT 642 PM CDT...A DELTA AIRLINES PILOT REPORTED A TORNADO...25 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF MIDLAND. RADAR INDICATES THAT THIS STORM IS MOVING TO THE
EAST...INTO UPTON COUNTY.
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, May 11, 3:03 PM CDT, 3 hours 46 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX 248 PM CDT THU MAY 11 1989 ...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR PARTS OF WEST TEXAS INCLUDING THE MIDLAND/ODESSA AREA UNTIL 10 PM CDT TONIGHT... AT 225 PM CDT...A THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS 30 MILES NORTH- WEST OF FORT DAVIS. OTHER THUNDERSTORMS AND RAINSHOWERS WERE WIDELY SCATTERED BETWEEN FORT DAVIS AND KERMIT. RAINSHOWERS WERE BETWEEN ABILENE AND LAMESA...AND A RAINSHOWER WAS WEST OF WHITES CITY NEW MEXICO. NO MOVEMENT HAD BEEN DETERMINED. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL RADIO OR TV FOR LATEST DETAILS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 11, 3:21 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Reeves | 69 min |
| May 11, 4:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Ward | 56 min |
| May 11, 5:02 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MAF | Pecos | 58 min |
| May 11, 5:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Crane | 69 min |
| May 11, 6:06 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Pecos | 69 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.