Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 18, NWS Shreveport, LA

May 16, 1990Cass County, Texas

NWS Shreveport, LA issued this tornado warning at May 16, 1990, 3:34 PM CDT for Cass County, Texas. It was in force for 56 min. 5 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
May 16, 1990, 3:34 PM CDT (20:34 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 1990, 4:30 PM CDT
In force
56 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
May 16, 3:50 PM CDTTornado F1Cass, TX
May 16, 4:09 PM CDTHail 1.75Cass, TX
May 16, 4:10 PM CDTTornado F2Cass, TX
May 16, 4:30 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Cass, TX
May 16, 4:38 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 52Cass, 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 12:00Z, 8.6 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 12:00Z on 1990-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 995 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, Longview/Gregg, TX at 12:00Z on 1990-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 200 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
995 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-191 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
606 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
200 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
268 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSHV 162036
TORSHV
TXC067-162130-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
334 PM CDT WED MAY 16 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SHREVEPORT HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  430 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS..
 
IN NORTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...NORTHERN CASS COUNTY
 
AT 330 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO FORMING
IN A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST NORTH OF MARIETTA TEXAS MOVING EAST AT
35 MPH.
 
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 16, 2:10 PM CDT, 1 hour 24 minutes before
OKZ026-TXZ022-023-027-028-032-033-ARZ009-010-011-016-LAZ001-002-
003-004-005-006-162030-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
210 PM CDT WED MAY 16 1990

...THUNDERSTORMS MOVE INTO THE NORTHWEST PORTIONS OF THE ARKLATEX...

AT 205 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT SHREVEPORT INDICATED
SHOWERS AND STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ACROSS THE NORTHWEST
SECTIONS OF THE ARKLATEX.  THE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED FROM SULPHUR
SPRINGS TEXAS NORTHEAST TO IDABEL OKLAHOMA AND DE QUEEN ARKANSAS.
DURING THE PAST HOUR A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCED BASEBALL SIZED
HAIL 6 MILES NORTH OF SULPHUR SPRINGS TEXAS.  MOVEMENT WAS EAST
NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

AS THE AFTERNOON PROGRESSES THE SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE
TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE NORTHWEST HALF OF THE ARKLATEX. THE AREA OF
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE SLOWLY SOUTHEASTWARD ACROSS THE
ARKLATEX THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT AND A FEW SEVERE STORMS CAN BE
EXPECTED ALONG WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL.

STAY TUNED TO TV..RADIO AND NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST IN
WEATHER INFORMATION.
Special weather statement, May 16, 3:07 PM CDT, 27 minutes before
OKZ026-TXZ022-023-027-028-032-033-ARZ009-010-011-016-LAZ001-002-
003-004-005-006-162130-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
310 PM CDT WED MAY 16 1990

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT FOR NORTHEAST TEXAS..SOUTHEAST
OKLAHOMA AND SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS UNTIL 10 PM THIS EVENING...

AT 305 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT SHREVEPORT INDICATED
SHOWERS AND STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS NORTHEAST TEXAS..EXTREME SOUTH-
EAST OKLAHOMA AND SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS. A 25 MILE WIDE BAND OF SHOWERS
AND THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM ANTOINE ARKANSAS TO JUST NORTH OF
TEXARKANA TO MT VERNON TEXAS. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM THAT  PRODUCED
BASEBALL SIZE HAIL 6 MILES NORTH OF SULPHUR SPRINGS TEXAS WAS LOCATED
NOW ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTHEAST OF TALCO TEXAS. MOVEMENT WAS EAST-NORTHEAST
AT ABOUT 40 MPH.

THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO
TO DEVELOP ACROSS THE NORTHWEST HALF OF THE ARKLATEX. THE AREA OF
ARKLATEX THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT  AND A FEW SEVERE STORMS CAN BE
EXPECTED ALONG WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL.

ALSO AT 305 PM WEATHER RADAR INDICATING DEVELOPING WIDELY SCATTERED
SHOWERS ACROSS CENTRAL LOUISIANA.

STAY TUNED TO TV..RADIO AND NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST IN
WEATHER INFORMATION.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 3:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVBowie, Cass93 min
May 16, 3:46 PM CDTTornado WarningSHVBowie59 min
May 16, 4:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVCass83 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.