Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Amarillo, TX

May 31, 1990Texas County, Oklahoma

NWS Amarillo, TX issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1990, 5:42 PM CDT for Texas County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 23 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 31, 1990, 5:42 PM CDT (22:42 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1990, 6:05 PM CDT
In force
23 min
Issued by
NWS Amarillo, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Texas County, OK

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 31, 6:00 PM CDTHail 1.75Texas, OK

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 12:00Z, 10.7 hours before the alert went out and 170 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 12:00Z on 1990-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2 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 12:00Z on 1990-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 253 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
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-515 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1381 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
38 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
253 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
347 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KAMA 312244
TORAMA
OKC139-312315-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
542 PM CDT THU MAY 31 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AMARILLO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE
          ...EASTERN TEXAS
 
AT 541 PM CDT..RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN EXTREME
SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS COUNTY IN THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE. MOVEMENT WAS TO
THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.
 
A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA.  REMEMBER
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES
WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.  REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO
RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.
SC

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

Local storm report, May 31, 5:13 PM CDT, 29 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO, TX
511 PM CDT THU MAY 31 1990

STORM REPORT FOR AFTERNOON OF MAY 31 1990

TORNADO REPORTED AT 1709 CDT AT HIWAY 281 AND 70 IN SOUTHERN OCHILTREE
CNTY..APPROX. 21 MILES SOUTH OF PERRYTON..RPTD BY SO

OTHER FUNNEL CLOUDS REPORTED IN EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN OCHILTREE..RPTD
BY HANSFORD CNTY SO

SC
     NO REPORTS RECEIVED

6) 1420-1515 CST...SVR TSTM WRNG FOR MOORE COUNTY
     1445 CST..ALMOST GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL 11 MILES NE OF CHANNING
       (IN MOORE CO.)--RPT BY COOP OBSERVER.

7) 1549-1745 CST...SVR TSTM WRNG FOR SRN HALL COUNTY TX
     NO REPORTS RECEIVED.

8) 1638-1745 CST...SVR TSTM WRNG FOR CHILDRESS COUNTY TX
     1655 CST...PEA TO HALF DOLLAR SIZE HAIL WEST OF CHILDRESS--
       RPT BY K96 RADIO IN CHILDRESS.

OTHER REPORTS
 1815 CST...PUBLIC REPORT OF TORNADO 25 MILES EAST OF FOLSOM NEW
   MEXICO (UNION COUNTY).  WAS ON GROUND ABOUT 10 MINUTES.  TIME
   APPROXIMATE.

 1857 CST...PUBLIC REPORT OF TORNADO JUST NORTHEAST OF TURPIN
   OKLAHOMA.  EYEWITNESSES REPORTED THAT TOUCHDOWN WAS VERY
   BRIEF AND THE BASE WAS ONLY 10 TO 20 YARDS WIDE.  SMALL
   GARAGE WAS BLOWN OVER ONTO A CAR...WINDOW SUCKED OUT OF A
   HOME...AND A PICNIC TABLE OVERTURNED.
Local storm report, May 31, 5:16 PM CDT, 26 minutes before
STORM REPORT CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO, TX
516 PM CDT THU MAY 31 1990

STORM REPORT FOR AFTERNOON OF MAY 31 1990

TORNADO REPORTED AT 1709 CDT AT HIWAY 281 AND 70 IN SOUTHERN OCHILTREE
CNTY..APPROX. 21 MILES SOUTH OF PERRYTON..RPTD BY SO

OTHER FUNNEL CLOUDS REPORTED IN EXTREME SOUTHWESTERN OCHILTREE..RPTD
BY HANSFORD CNTY SO

SC

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Oklahoma, 1990Every tornado warning in 1990Tornadoes 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.