Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 1998

Tornado Watch 348

May 15, 1998Cotton County, Tillman County, Oklahoma; 31 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at May 15, 1998, 12:00 AM CDT for Cotton County, Tillman County, Oklahoma; 31 counties in Texas. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: May 15, 1998, 12:00 AM CDT (05:00 UTC)
Expired: May 15, 1998, 5:00 AM CDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 33 counties

Cotton County, OK, Tillman County, OK, Baylor County, TX, Borden County, TX, Coke County, TX, Cottle County, TX, Crosby County, TX, Dickens County, TX, Fisher County, TX, Foard County, TX, Garza County, TX, Glasscock County, TX, Hardeman County, TX, Haskell County, TX, Howard County, TX, Jones County, TX, Kent County, TX, King County, TX, Knox County, TX, Martin County, TX, Midland County, TX, Mitchell County, TX, Motley County, TX, Nolan County, TX, Runnels County, TX, Scurry County, TX, Shackelford County, TX, Sterling County, TX, Stonewall County, TX, Taylor County, TX, Throckmorton County, TX, Wichita County, TX, Wilbarger County, TX

Warnings issued inside it

19 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 15, 12:33 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LUB	Crosby, Garza	47 min
May 15, 12:40 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Midland	35 min
May 15, 12:49 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Borden	46 min
May 15, 12:55 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Howard	50 min
May 15, 1:03 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LUB	Dickens, Kent, Motley	47 min
May 15, 1:04 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SJT	Mitchell, Sterling	46 min
May 15, 1:12 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LUB	Garza	33 min
May 15, 1:22 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Scurry	48 min
May 15, 1:37 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SJT	Fisher	63 min
May 15, 1:45 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	LUB	Kent	35 min
May 15, 1:50 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SJT	Mitchell, Sterling, Tom Green	50 min
May 15, 2:03 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SJT	Coke, Nolan	62 min
May 15, 2:05 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Hardeman	40 min
May 15, 2:05 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Foard	40 min
May 15, 2:20 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Knox	25 min
May 15, 2:33 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SJT	Jones, Taylor	62 min
May 15, 2:45 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Baylor, Foard, Hardeman, Knox, Wilbarger	60 min
May 15, 2:51 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SJT	Runnels	64 min
May 15, 3:15 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	OUN	Tillman	45 min

The nearest sounding before it

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 00:00Z, 5.0 hours before the alert went out and 154 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 5985 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 1 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 40 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.

410 
WWUS9 KMKC 150439
SEL8  
MKC WW 150439
TXZ000-151000-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 348
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
1139 PM CDT THU MAY 14 1998

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   WEST TEXAS                              

EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY MORNING FROM MIDNIGHT CDT UNTIL 500 AM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 75 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 50 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF BIG SPRING TEXAS TO 70
MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF WICHITA FALLS TEXAS.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 344...WW 345...WW
346...WW 347...

DISCUSSION...STRONG PACIFIC FRONT IS INTERSECTING WWD MOVING DRY
LINE IN W TEXAS.  VERY RAPID REDEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
EXPECTED AS STRONG UPPER SUPPORT FROM APPROACHING TROF MOVES OUT OF
NM.  AIRMASS REMAINS VERY UNSTABLE ACROSS NWRN TX AHEAD OF FRONT TO
SUPPORT SUPERCELLS AND ISOLATED TORNADOES.


AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 23040.


...HALES

313,1022 342,1005 342,0981 313,0995

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 14, 7:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Beckham, Dewey, Ellis, Greer, Harmon, Harper and 3 more	5 hr
May 14, 11:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Alfalfa, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Cleveland, Comanche and 22 more	6 hr
May 15, 2:15 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Alfalfa, Beckham, Blaine, Caddo, Canadian, Carter and 34 more	6 hr
May 15, 3:15 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Love, Marshall	6 hr
May 15, 5:50 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Kay, Nowata, Osage, Washington	6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Texas, 1998 Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 1998 Every tornado watch in 1998

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.