Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Shreveport, LA

April 3, 1989Cass County, Texas

NWS Shreveport, LA issued this tornado warning at Apr 3, 1989, 11:08 PM CDT for Cass County, Texas. It was in force for 57 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
Apr 3, 1989, 11:08 PM CDT (04:08 UTC)
Expired
Apr 4, 1989, 12:05 AM CDT
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Shreveport, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Cass 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
Apr 3, 11:15 PM CDTHail 1Cass, TX
Apr 3, 11:40 PM CDTHail 1Cass, 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

Longview/Gregg, TX (KGGG), launched 00:00Z, 4.1 hours before the alert went out and 84 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, Longview/Gregg, TX at 00:00Z on 1989-04-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2423 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Longview/Gregg, TX at 00:00Z on 1989-04-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 128 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
2423 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-51 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1767 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
128 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
171 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
9.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSHV 040409 COR
TORSHV
TXC067-040505-

BULLETIN...EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
1108 PM CDT MON APR 3 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE
UNTIL 1205 AM TUESDAY FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY IN

IN NORTHEAST TEXAS... CASS

AT 1108 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADARS INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO
NEAR HUGHES SPRINGS IN WESTERN CASS COUNTY IN NORTHEAST TEXAS
MOVING TO THE EAST AT NEAR 40 MPH.
.
PERSONS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO SHOULD SEEK SHELTER IN A PERMANENT
STRUCTURE ON THE LOWEST FLOOR IN AN INTERIOR SMALL ROOM.  GET UNDER A
PIECE OF HEAVY FURNITURE OR COVER YOURSELF WITH SOMETHING TO PROTECT
AGAINST FLYING OR FALLING DEBRIS.

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, Apr 3, 6:59 PM CDT, 4 hours 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
700 PM CDT MON APR 3 1989

...WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING INTO EXTREME NORTHEAST
TEXAS ON INTO EXTREME SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA...

AT 650 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED WIDELY SCATTERED
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS FROM NEAR CLARKSVILLE TEXAS TO IDABEL
OKLAHOMA. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED SOUTH OF IDABEL ALONG
THE RED RIVER. THIS STORM WAS LIKELY PRODUCING BRIEF HEAVY RAIN..GUSTY
WINDS..AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING. MOVEMENT OF THE PRECIPITATION WAS TO THE
EAST AT ABOUT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

ELSEWHERE..A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED JUST TO THE SOUTHEAST OF
FORT SMITH ARKANSAS MOVING TO THE EAST NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.
THIS STORM EARLIER PRODUCED GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL IN LEFLORE COUNTY
OKLAHOMA.

A COLD FRONT WAS CURRENTLY LOCATED FROM EXTREME WEST CENTRAL ARKANSAS
TO SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA ON INTO NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS. IT WILL CONTINUE TO
PUSH TO THE EAST THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT AND WILL CAUSE SCATTERED
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE WESTERN SECTIONS OF THE
ARKLATEX THIS EVENING AND THE EASTERN SECTIONS LATER TONIGHT. COOLER
AIR WILL FOLLOW THE FRONTA!L PASSAGE ALONG WITH DECREASING CLOUDINESS.
Special weather statement, Apr 3, 8:16 PM CDT, 2 hours 52 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
815 PM CDT MON APR 3 1989

...VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO EXTREME NORTHEAST TEXAS...

AT 810 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN SHREVEPORT SHOWED
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SOUTH OF PARIS TEXAS TO CLARKSVILLE
ON TO NEAR FOREMAN ARKANSAS. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED
35 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CLARKSVILLE NEAR DEPORT TEXAS..AND 10 MILES SOUTH
OF CLARKSVILLE. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE LIKELY PRODUCING VERY HEAVY
RAIN..STRONG GUSTY WINDS..SMALL HAIL..AND FREQUENT AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 30 MPH.

ELSEWHERE..A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED NORTHWEST OF HOT SPRINGS
MOVING TO THE EAST AT 30 MPH. THIS STORM HAS HAD A HISTORY OF PRODUCING
LARGE HAIL.

SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO INDICATED FROM
JUST SOUTH OF HOT SPRINGS TO NEAR DEQUEEN ARKANSAS TO NEAR EAGLETOWN
OKLAHOMA. ALSO SCATTERED SHOWERS WERE LOCATED NEAR GREENVILLE TEXAS.
MOVEMENT OF ALL ACTIVITY WAS TO THE EAST AT 30 MPH.

THIS ACTIVITY WAS ALL IN ADVANCE OF A COLD FRONT WHICH EXTENDED FROM
WESTERN ARKANSAS INTO SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA ON INTO NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS.
THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY INTENSIFY AS THEY MOVE TO THE EAST.

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE EXTREME NORTHERN SECTIONS OF
SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS UNTIL 2 AM CDT.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Shreveport, LA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 3, 8:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVBowie60 min
Apr 3, 9:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVCass95 min
Apr 3, 9:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVBowie100 min
Apr 3, 10:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVCass79 min
Apr 4, 12:09 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVBowie51 min
Apr 4, 1:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVBowie60 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.