Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2000

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 55, NWS Amarillo, TX

April 30, 2000Hemphill County, Wheeler County, Texas

NWS Amarillo, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 30, 2000, 4:46 AM CDT for Hemphill County, Wheeler County, Texas. It was in force for 59 min. 3 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 30, 2000, 4:46 AM CDT (09:46 UTC)
Expired
Apr 30, 2000, 5:45 AM CDT
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Amarillo, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Hemphill County, TX, Wheeler County, TX

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 137 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:45 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 30, 4:48 AM CDTHail 0.88Gageby, TX
Apr 30, 4:52 AM CDTHail 0.75Mobeetie, TX
Apr 30, 5:08 AM CDTHail 0.88Mobeetie, 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 30, 12:30 AM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 00:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 137 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 00:00Z on 2000-04-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2063 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 2000-04-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 137 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2063 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1561 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
137 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
440 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.4
Supercell composite
20.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS54 KAMA 300948
SVRAMA
TXC211-483-301045-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
446 AM CDT SUN APR 30 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AMARILLO HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  HEMPHILL COUNTY IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE
  WHEELER COUNTY IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE

* UNTIL 545 AM CDT

* AT 446 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  LINE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FROM 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CANADIAN TO 
  10 MILES WEST OF SHAMROCK...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED BY THE STORM INCLUDE...
  CANADIAN...SHAMROCK...ALLISON...BRISCOE...GLAZIER...KELLERVILLE...
  LAKE MARVIN...LELA...NEW MOBEETIE...TWITTY AND WHEELER

LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...AND TORRENTIAL RAINS ARE EXPECTED WITH
THIS STORM. TAKE COVER IN A SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER.

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT. TORNADOES CAN DEVELOP SUDDENLY
FROM SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Amarillo, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Apr 30, 3:30 AM CDT, 1 hour 16 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 30, 3:30 AM CDT, 1 hour 16 minutes before
TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
330 AM CDT SUN APR 30 2000

LATEST HAND ANALYSIS DEPICTS STRONG SFC COLD FRONT JUST E OF A KGLD
TO KSPD TO S OF KRTN LINE. LOTS OF TSTMS FORMING ALONG AND E OF THIS
FEATURE IN CO...NE...WRN KS. THIS FRONT...NOT THE DRYLINE...WILL HAVE
THE SAY IN THE RAIN GAME HERE IN FCST AREA TODAY. THE FRONT IS NOT
ALL THAT TRIVIAL BASED ON UPSTREAM TEMPS AND STRONG NORTH WINDS.
CONSIDERING THE FACT THIS COLD FRONT HAS YET TO PUT THE BRAKES ON...
HAVE LEANED HEAVILY WITH ETA SFC POSITIONING OF THE FRONT BY 00Z MON.
IT APPEARS TO BE HANDLING THE SHALLOW WEDGE OF COOLER AIR BEST
COMPARED TO THE NGM WHICH IS STUBBORN AND SLOWEST TO BRING THE COOL
WEDGE DOWN INTO FCST AREA. AVN IN BETWEEN SFC WISE. ETA HAS HAD
SUPERIOR PERFORMANCE WITH THESE SITUATIONS OVER HIGH PLAINS IN THE
PAST. REFER TO PMDHMD TOO FOR MORE INFO. THEREFORE...WILL TRACK SFC
FRONT THRU MOST OF FCST AREA TODAY AND WOULD NOT BE SURPRISED AT ALL
IF IT ENDS UP SAGGING SWD THRU MUCH OF W TX BEFORE ALL IS SAID AND
DONE DURG NEXT 48 HRS. ERN ZNS STAND TO BE THE TARGET OF HEAVIEST
RAINFALL AMOUNTS DUE TO EXPECTED LOCATION OF FRONTAL BOUNDARY
IMPINGING ON DEEP MOISTURE. LATER SHIFTS WILL NEED TO MONITOR THIS
AREA TODAY. ACKNOWLEDGE QPFERD/94E BUT WILL NOT ISSUE FLASH FLOOD
WATCH THIS PCKG DUE TO SOME UNCERTAINTY IN EVOLUTION.

ALL SHORT RANGE MODELS HANDLE UPPER LVL LOW DIFFERENTLY AS WELL...
AND IS TO BE EXPECTED SINCE THIS FEATURE IS TRAPPED BENEATH A CNTRL
US RIDGE. UPPER LOW SHOULD BE A SLOW MOVER AND WILL MORE THAN LIKELY
LINGER AROUND TX/OK PNHDLS REGION THRU LATE MON WHILE WEAKENING
SLOWLY. SINCE FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL END UP WELL E AND S OF FCST
AREA...AXIS OF HEAVIEST RAINS SHOULD SHIFT S AND E AS WELL.
NEVERTHELESS...COOL UPSLOPE LOW LVL WINDS...MORE THAN ADEQUATE
MOISTURE...AND PROXIMITY OF UPPER LVL LOW CERTAINLY SUPPORTS THREAT
OF PRECIP THRU MON. COOLER TEMPS DURG SHORT RANGE AS WELL.

TOUGH CALL ON EXTENDED PERIODS AS ALL MEDIUM RANGE MODELS DIFFER
ON MOVMT OF UPPER LOW. MAY DO SOME TWEEKING BUT GENERAL TREND IS FOR
LESS PRECIP AND LOWER CHCS DURG THE TUE THRU THU TIME FRAME.
4PRELIM VALUES FOLLOW. ZONES WILL BE LATE MORE THAN LIKELY DUE TO
ACTIVE WX.

DHT 62/45/59  885
GUY 64/46/59  885
AMA 68/47/63  885

.AMA...
TX...NONE.
OK...NONE.

ANDRADE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 30, 2:51 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAGray54 min
Apr 30, 3:16 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMARoberts59 min
Apr 30, 3:39 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMACollingsworth, Wheeler66 min
Apr 30, 3:41 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAGray34 min
Apr 30, 4:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAGray, Roberts60 min
Apr 30, 9:34 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningAMACollingsworth3 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 2000Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2000

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.