Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Amarillo, TX

May 28, 1994Roberts County, Texas

NWS Amarillo, TX issued this tornado warning at May 28, 1994, 6:51 PM CDT for Roberts County, Texas. It was in force for 54 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 28, 1994, 6:51 PM CDT (23:51 UTC)
Expired
May 28, 1994, 7:45 PM CDT
In force
54 min
Issued by
NWS Amarillo, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Roberts County, TX

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 105 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:50 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 105 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 1994-05-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1994-05-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 368 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
885 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
368 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
448 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 282353
TORAMA
TXC393-290045-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
651 PM CDT SAT MAY 28 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AMARILLO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM CDT
FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE
 
   ...NORTHERN ROBERTS COUNTY
 
AT 650 PM CDT...AMARILLO DOPPLER RADAR WAS INDICATING A POSSIBLE
DEVELOPING TORNADO IN NORTHERN ROBERTS COUNTY...OVER THE CANADIAN RIVER.
THIS STORM WAS BETWEEN HIGHWAY 70 AND THE EASTERN ROBERTS COUNTY LINE.
MOVEMENT WAS SLOWLY SOUTHEAST AT 5 MILES AN HOUR.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. DO NOT RUN OUTSIDE TO FIND THE
TORNADO...SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.  MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND
IF AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID
WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR REINFORCED BUILDINGS.

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 28, 1:00 PM CDT, 5 hours 51 minutes before
OKZ001>003-TXZ001>026-290500-

TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
100 PM CDT SAT MAY 28 1994

THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON OR TONIGHT ACROSS THE
OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS PANHANDLES.

DAYTIME HEATING COUPLED WITH ADEQUATE MOISTURE HAS RESULTED IN A VERY
UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE OVER THE REGION DURING THE EARLY AFTERNOON HOURS.
HOWEVER...MID LEVEL TEMPERATURES IN THE ATMOSPHERE HAVE WARMED DURING
THE PAST 24 HOURS. THIS MID LEVEL WARMING...SOMETIMES KNOWN AS A CAP
...IS EXPECTED TO STRENGTHEN LATER THIS AFTERNOON...PROVIDING AN
INCREASINGLY UNFAVORABLE ENVIRONMENT FOR THUNDERSTORM FORMATION.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE LIKELY TODAY.

ANDRADE
Special weather statement, May 28, 2:45 PM CDT, 4 hours 6 minutes before
OKZ001>003-TXZ001>026-290500-

TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
245 PM CDT SAT MAY 28 1994

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON
AND TONIGHT ACROSS THE NORTHEAST HALF OF THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA
PANHANDLES. THE SLIGHT RISK AREA IS GENERALLY ALONG AND EAST OF A
LINE EXTENDING FROM BOISE CITY OKLAHOMA TO CHILDRESS TEXAS.

THE ATMOSPHERE HAD BECOME INCREASINGLY UNSTABLE DURING THE MID
AFTERNOON ACROSS THIS AREA. IF THIS TREND PERSISTS...THEN
THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT WILL BE POSSIBLE. ANY THUNDERSTORMS WHICH DO
FORM WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME SEVERE...WITH LARGE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS EXPECTED TO BE THE PRIMARY THREATS. HOWEVER...THE
ATMOSPHERIC WIND PROFILE IS FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ISOLATED
TORNADOES.

SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS IN NORTHEAST HALF OF THE
TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND BE READY FOR
POSSIBLE ACTIVATION LATE THIS AFTERNOON OR EVENING.

ANDRADE
Special weather statement, May 28, 2:45 PM CDT, 4 hours 6 minutes before
OKZ001>003-TXZ001>026-290500-

TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
245 PM CDT SAT MAY 28 1994

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS LATE THIS AFTERNOON
AND TONIGHT ACROSS THE NORTHEAST HALF OF THE TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA
PANHANDLES. THE SLIGHT RISK AREA IS GENERALLY ALONG AND EAST OF A
LINE EXTENDING FROM BOISE CITY OKLAHOMA TO CHILDRESS TEXAS.

THE ATMOSPHERE HAD BECOME INCREASINGLY UNSTABLE DURING THE MID
AFTERNOON ACROSS THIS AREA. IF THIS TREND PERSISTS...THEN
THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT WILL BE POSSIBLE. ANY THUNDERSTORMS WHICH DO
FORM WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME SEVERE...WITH LARGE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS EXPECTED TO BE THE PRIMARY THREATS. HOWEVER...THE
ATMOSPHERIC WIND PROFILE IS FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF ISOLATED
TORNADOES.

SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS IN NORTHEAST HALF OF THE
TEXAS AND OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND BE READY FOR
POSSIBLE ACTIVATION LATE THIS AFTERNOON OR EVENING.

ANDRADE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 28, 5:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAOchiltree, Roberts61 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1994Every tornado warning in 1994Tornadoes in 1994

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.