Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Lubbock, TX

April 13, 1999Lamb County, Texas

NWS Lubbock, TX issued this tornado warning at Apr 13, 1999, 3:00 PM CDT for Lamb County, Texas. It was in force for 30 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
Apr 13, 1999, 3:00 PM CDT (20:00 UTC)
Expired
Apr 13, 1999, 3:30 PM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Lubbock, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Lamb County, TX

The radar

The Lubbock radar (KLBB), 68 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:01 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 13, 3:15 PM CDTThunderstorm WindLittlefield, TXStrong wind blew the roof off a business.
Apr 13, 3:20 PM CDTHail 0.75Littlefield, 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.

The watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 13, 2:30 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 12:00Z, 8.0 hours before the alert went out and 142 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 1999-04-13Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 173 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 12:00Z on 1999-04-13The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 184 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
173 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-133 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
741 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
184 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
138 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.

999 
WFUS1 KLBB 132003 RRA
TORLBB
TXC279-132030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
300 PM CDT TUE APR 13 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LUBBOCK HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN LAMB COUNTY IN NORTHWEST TEXAS

* UNTIL 330 PM CDT

* AT 256 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 7 MILES WEST OF
  LITTLEFIELD...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO AFFECT COMMUNITIES OF...
  LITTLEFIELD...AMHERST

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 800 PM CDT TUESDAY EVENING
FOR NORTHWEST TEXAS. AND.

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, Apr 13, 11:40 AM CDT, 3 hours 20 minutes before
TXZ021>044-131555-

AREA THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
1140 AM CDT TUE APR 13 1999

THERE IS A MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM THE CENTRAL
PORTIONS OF THE SOUTH PLAINS EASTWARD INTO THE LOW ROLLING PLAINS
THIS AFTERNOON INTO THE EVENING.  THIS MODERATE RISK AREA IS
GENERALLY ALONG AND EAST OF A I-27 AND US 87 LINE. TO THE WEST OF THIS
LINE A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IS POSSIBLE...MAINLY THIS
AFTERNOON.

A SURFACE LOW WAS LOCATED IN SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO WITH A DRYLINE
EXTENDING SOUTHWARD.  A COLD FRONT TWAS EXTENDING SOUTHWEST OF THE
LOW TO JUST NORTH OF EL PASO WITH A WARM FRONT EXTENDING EAST
NORTHEAST TO NEAR CHILDRESS.  AN UPPER LEVEL LOW LOCATED OVER THE
SOUTHERN SECTION OF THE NEW MEXICO ARIZONA BORDER WILL MOVE EAST AND
INTERACT WITH THE DRYLINE...WARM FRONT AND COLD FRONT THIS AFTERNOON
AND EVENING.  LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS WILL BE THE MOST LIKELY
THREATS HOWEVER...AN ISOLATED TORNADO COULD OCCUR IN THE VICINITY OF
THE WARM FRONT.

SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL BE LIKELY THIS AFTERNOON FOR THE SOUTH
PLAINS AND SOUTHERN PANHANDLE.  THE LOW ROLLING PLAINS WILL MOST
LIKELY NEED TO BE ACTIVATED THIS EVENING.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 13, 1:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBParmer35 min
Apr 13, 2:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBBailey, Cochran, Hockley, Lamb48 min
Apr 13, 5:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBGarza50 min
Apr 13, 5:49 PM CDTTornado WarningLUBHall26 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1999Every tornado warning in 1999Tornadoes 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.