Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 61, NWS Amarillo, TX

May 18, 1990Wheeler County, Texas

NWS Amarillo, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 18, 1990, 7:05 PM CDT for Wheeler County, Texas. It was in force for 55 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 18, 1990, 7:05 PM CDT (00:05 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1990, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Amarillo, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Wheeler 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 18, 7:35 PM CDTHail 1.75Wheeler, 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

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 131 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 1990-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 689 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 1990-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -207 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
689 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-31 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2409 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-207 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
239 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 18, 2:39 PM CDT, 4 hours 26 minutes before
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Special weather statement, May 18, 4:38 PM CDT, 2 hours 27 minutes before
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Special weather statement, May 18, 5:37 PM CDT, 1 hour 28 minutes before
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Special weather statement, May 18, 5:57 PM CDT, 1 hour 8 minutes before
TTAATX KAMA 182257
TXZ001>012-COZ015>017-NMZ005-009-013-OKZ001>004-009-014-021-
KSZ003-006-190050-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
556 PM CDT FRI MAY 18 1990

...TORNADO WATCH 264 IS IN EFFECT FOR THE EASTERN TWO-THIRDS OF THE
TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES UNTIL 10 PM CDT...

LATEST WEATHER MAPS SHOW THAT A DRYLINE WAS LOCATED FROM JUST WEST OF
LIBERAL KANSAS...TO JUST WEST OF AMARILLO...AND TO BETWEEN WINK AND
MIDLAND TEXAS.  AIR BEHIND THE DRYLINE IS TOO DRY TO SUPPORT THUNDERSTORMS
SO DALLAM...HARTLEY...OLDHAM...DEAF SMITH...PARMER...AND CASTRO COUNTIES
OF THE TEXAS PANHANDLE HAVE BEEN DROPPED FROM TORNADO WATCH 264.

EAST OF THE DRYLINE THE ATMOSPHERE WAS STILL QUITE MOIST AND UNSTABLE.
A TROUGH OF LOW PRESSURE WAS ALSO LOCATED IN THE EASTERN TEXAS PANHANDLE.
A LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSHOWERS WAS DEVELOPING NEAR THIS TROUGH AT
550 PM CDT NEAR CLARENDON AND ALANREED.  THESE SHOWERS ARE EXPECTED TO
INCREASE IN INTENSITY OVER THE NEXT HOUR.
ANOTHER THUNDERSTORM WAS JUST EAST OF SPEARMAN WAS MOVING INTO OCHILTREE
COUNTY.

MOVEMENT OF ALL PRECIPITATION WAS NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

TWG
Special weather statement, May 18, 6:33 PM CDT, 32 minutes before
TXZ001>012-COZ015>017-NMZ005-009-013-OKZ001>004-009-014-021-
KSZ003-006-190040-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
632 PM CDT FRI MAY 18 1990

...THUNDERSTORMS ARE INCREASING IN INTENSITY IN THE EASTERN TEXAS
PANHANDLE THIS EVENING...

AT 625 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN AND POSSIBLY SOME
SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS WERE LOCATED NEAR PERRYTON...MCLEAN...AND
12 MILES NORTHWEST OF SHAMROCK.

MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

REMEMBER A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10PM CDT FOR THE EASTERN
TWO-THIRDS OF THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES.  A TORNADO WATCH MEANS
THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE FORMATION OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
AND POSSIBLY TORNADOES.  RESIDENTS OF WHEELER...OCHILTREE...AND LIPCOMB
COUNTIES OF THE TEXAS PANHANDLE SHOULD BE ESPECIALLY ALERT TO RAPIDLY
CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS THIS EVENING.  STAY TUNED TO YOUR NOAA
WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL RADIO/TV STATIONS FOR LATER UPDATES AND
STATEMENTS.

TWG
Local storm report, May 18, 6:57 PM CDT, 8 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO, TX
656 PM CDT FRI MAY 18 1990

STORM REPORT FOR AFTN AND EVENING OF MAY 18

1732 CST...DIME TO QUARTER SIZE HAIL IN PERRYTON.  RPT BY PD.
1748 CST...GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL IN PERRYTON.  RPT BY PD.
1745 CST...2 1/2 INCH DIAMETER HAIL 2 MILES SW OF PERRYTON.  RPT BY
           OFF DUTY WEATHER SERVICE PERSONNEL.
1753 CST...BASEBALL TO GRAPEFRUIT SIZE HAIL IN PERRYTON.  RPT BY PD.

WSO AMA
TWG

The office that day

Everything else NWS Amarillo, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 7:56 PM CDTTornado WarningAMAWheeler49 min
May 18, 7:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMABeaver64 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 1990Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1990

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.