Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 29, NWS Amarillo, TX

June 8, 1990Gray County, Roberts County, Wheeler County, Texas

NWS Amarillo, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 8, 1990, 8:23 PM CDT for Gray County, Roberts County, Wheeler County, Texas. It was in force for 67 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 8, 1990, 8:23 PM CDT (01:23 UTC)
Expired
Jun 8, 1990, 9:30 PM CDT
In force
67 min
Issued by
NWS Amarillo, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Gray County, TX, Roberts County, TX, 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
Jun 8, 8:55 PM CDTTornado F1Wheeler, TX
Jun 8, 9:20 PM CDTTornado F0Gray, 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, 1.4 hours before the alert went out and 103 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 1990-06-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 630 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 1990-06-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 4 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
630 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
3701 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
35 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 090126
TORAMA
TXC179-393-483-090230-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
823 PM CDT FRI JUN 8 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AMARILLO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  930 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE
          ...GRAY...ROBERTS...WHEELER
 
AT 820 PM CDT..RADAR INDICATED POSSIBLE TORNADOES WITH SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS IN ROBERTS COUNTY..10 MILES NORTH OF MIAMI..IN GRAY
COUNTY 10 MILES NORTH OF GROOM..AND IN WHEELER COUNTY 6 MILES
NORTHWEST OF WHEELER. THESE STORMS HAVE SHOWN LITTLE MOVEMENT DURING
THE PAST FEW MINUTES.
 
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.
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

Special weather statement, Jun 8, 4:18 PM CDT, 4 hours 5 minutes before
TXZ001>009-NMZ005-009-013-OKZ001>003-082215-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
415 PM CDT FRI JUN 8 1990

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN EASTERN NEW MEXICO...

AT 4 PM..THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO INCREASE IN INTENSITY OVER PORTIONS
OF NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED ALONG A COLD
FRONT WHICH WAS LOCATED BETWEEN TUCUMCARI AND CLAYTON..TO JUST NORTH OF
AMARILLO.

VERY GUSTY WINDS AND SMALL HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS
AS THEY MOVE TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

SC
Special weather statement, Jun 8, 6:57 PM CDT, 1 hour 26 minutes before
TXZ001>009-NMZ005-009-013-OKZ001>003-090055 -

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
 640 PM CDT FRI JUN 8  1990

 ...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ACROSS THE EASTERN TEXAS PANHANDLE...

AT 635 PM CDT THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED TO INCREASE IN INTENSITY OVER
THE EASTERN PORTION OF THE TEXAS PANHANDLE. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS
WERE BETWEEN MIAMI AND PAMPA.

ELSEWHERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED IN NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO IN A 35 MILE
WIDE AREA FROM NEAR DES MOINES SOUTHWARD TO NEAR LOGAN.

VERY GUSTY WINDS...SMALL HAIL AND BRIEF PERIODS OF HEAVY RAIN CAN BE
EXPECTED AS THESE THUNDERSTORMS MOVE TO THE SOUTHEAST AROUND 20 MPH.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 8, 7:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMACarson, Gray69 min
Jun 8, 7:27 PM CDTTornado WarningAMAGray48 min
Jun 8, 7:47 PM CDTTornado WarningAMAArmstrong, Carson28 min
Jun 8, 8:14 PM CDTTornado WarningAMACarson46 min
Jun 8, 9:02 PM CDTTornado WarningAMAArmstrong, Carson, Randall43 min
Jun 8, 9:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAGray, Wheeler68 min
Jun 8, 10:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMACollingsworth, Donley69 min
Jun 8, 10:09 PM CDTTornado WarningAMACastro36 min
Jun 9, 6:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAMoore57 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 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.