Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 22, NWS Fort Worth, TX

May 10, 1999Denton County, Texas

NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this tornado warning at May 10, 1999, 2:28 AM CDT for Denton County, Texas. It was in force for 32 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties.

The facts

Issued: May 10, 1999, 2:28 AM CDT (07:28 UTC)
Expired: May 10, 1999, 3:00 AM CDT
In force: 32 min
Issued by: NWS Fort Worth, TX
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Denton County, TX

The radar

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 89 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:31 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 9, 10:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 00:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 61 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: 2605 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -86 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1141 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 62 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 210 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.8
Supercell composite: 9.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

999 
WFUS1 KFTW 100730 RRA
TORFTW
TXC121-100800-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
228 AM CDT MON MAY 10 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT WORTH HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  DENTON COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS

* UNTIL 300 AM CDT

* AT 228 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED 
  A DEVELOPING TORNADO 10 MILES WEST OF SANGER...MOVING NORTHEAST 
  AT 10 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE WARNING INCLUDE BOLIVAR...SANGER

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN A MOBILE HOME...EVACUATE AND GET INSIDE A SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER.
IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER
LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

LAT...LON 3344 9740 3324 9739 3330 9709 3346 9715

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 9, 11:56 PM CDT, 2 hours 32 minutes before

TXZ091>095-100>107-115>123-129>135-141>148-156>162-174-175-092200-

SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH TEXAS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
1156 PM CDT SUN MAY 9 1999

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER THAT PORTION
OF NORTH TEXAS GENERALLY WEST OF A BONHAM...ATHENS...CENTERVILLE
LINE MAINLY TONIGHT. THE THREAT OF A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL
BEGIN IN WESTERN AREAS LATE THIS AFTERNOON OR EARLY THIS
EVENING...AND SPREAD ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE THREAT AREA TONIGHT.
THE SLIGHT RISK INCLUDES DENTON...EASTLAND...WEATHERFORD...WACO...
TEMPLE...CORSICANA...SHERMAN AND DENISON...AND THE DALLAS F0RT WORTH
METROPLEX.

WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL FORM EAST OF THE WEST TEXAS DRY
LINE THIS AFTERNOON.  A FEW OF THESE STORMS WILL PRODUCE LARGE
HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...MAINLY
WEST OF A JACKSBORO...STEPHENVILLE...GOLDTHWAITE LINE.  TONIGHT...
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL FORM ACROSS MOST OF NORTH TEXAS...IN
RESPONSE TO FAVORABLE ALIGNMENT OF THE SUB-TROPICAL JET STREAM IN
SOUTH AND CENTRAL TEXAS AND A VERY UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE ACROSS NORTH
TEXAS.  ONCE AGAIN...DAMAGING WINDS AND HAIL WILL BE THE MAIN THREATS
FROM THESE STORMS.  LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL MAY ALSO OCCUR TONIGHT.

AT THE CURRENT TIME IT APPEARS THAT THE THREAT OF TORNADOES WILL BE
MINIMAL BECAUSE OF RATHER WEAK WIND SPEEDS ALOFT.  HOWEVER...ANY
ACCELERATION OF THESE WINDS COULD RESULT IN SOME INCREASE IN THE
TORNADO THREAT.

STORM SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY OPERATING CENTERS MAY BE ACTIVATED
LATE THIS AFTERNOON IN WESTERN SECTIONS...AND TONIGHT ACROSS ALL
OF NORTH TEXAS.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 10, 12:04 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Comanche	41 min
May 10, 12:14 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Erath	46 min
May 10, 12:23 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Collin, Denton	52 min
May 10, 12:42 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Montague	48 min
May 10, 1:01 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	FWD	Hood	29 min
May 10, 1:10 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Parker	50 min
May 10, 2:18 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	FWD	Denton	12 min
May 10, 3:35 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	FWD	Cooke, Grayson	3 hr
May 10, 7:57 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Mills	63 min
May 10, 10:10 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Bell	35 min
May 10, 4:41 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Anderson	13 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1999 Every tornado warning in 1999 Tornadoes in 1999

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.