Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2001

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 64, NWS Amarillo, TX

May 17, 2001Potter County, Texas

NWS Amarillo, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 2001, 9:19 PM CDT for Potter County, Texas. It was in force for 56 min. 4 reports came from 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, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: May 17, 2001, 9:19 PM CDT (02:19 UTC)
Expired: May 17, 2001, 10:15 PM CDT
In force: 56 min
Issued by: NWS Amarillo, TX
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Potter County, TX

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 32 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:22 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

Time	Report	Where
May 17, 9:50 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Amarillo, TX
May 17, 9:50 PM CDT	Hail 0.88	Amarillo, TX
May 17, 10:00 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Amarillo, TX
May 17, 10:15 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	(Ama)Amarillo Intl A, 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 nearest sounding before it

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 00:00Z, 2.3 hours before the alert went out and 33 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: 1564 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -85 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1673 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 103 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS54 KAMA 180220
SVRAMA
TXC375-180315-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
919 PM CDT THU MAY 17 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  POTTER COUNTY IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE

* UNTIL 1015 PM CDT

* AT 919 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER VALLEY DE ORO...OR ABOUT 30 MILES
  NORTHWEST OF AMARILLO...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED BY THE STORM INCLUDE...
  AMARILLO AND VALLEY DE ORO

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

LAT...LON 3561 10216 3520 10214 3519 10166 3562 10163

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 May 17, 3:15 PM CDT, 6 hours 4 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 17, 3:15 PM CDT, 6 hours 4 minutes before

TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
315 PM CDT THU MAY 17 2001

TEMPS IN MID 70S TO MID 80S DEG F ACRS PNHDLS HAVE ALLOWED AMS TO
BCM VERY UNSTABLE.  AMA 12Z SOUNDING ADJUSTED FOR MID 80S YEILDS LI
OF -11.  CDFNT LIES ACRS SERN AND SRN ZNS.  DIFFUSE OUTFLOW BNDRY
LIES ACRS NRN ZNS.  ELY COMPONENT TO SFC AND LOW-LVL WNDS ON N SIDE
OF CDFNT WL PVL THIS EVE AND TNGT...ASSISTING IN DVLPMT OF TSTMS.  H5
VOT MAX AND JET STREAK WL MOV INTO AREA FM W THIS EVE AND TNGT...
WHICH WL HELP INSTBY BE RELEASED.  WL MENTION PSBL SVR AND LOCALLY
HVY RNFL PSBL ALL SXNS TNGT.  SFC WNDS BCM SELY ON FRI OVR WRN ZNS
...AND WITH CNVGNC ALG RETREATING FNT OVR THIS AREA WILL KEEP HIST
CHC POPS FRI AND FRI NGT OVR WRN AND CNTRL ZNS.  SAME SITUATION FOR
SAT...I.E. AXIS OF INSTBY ALG CNVGNC ZONE OVR WRN AND SRN ZNS.  AVN
BRINGS CDFNT INTO NRN ZNS SAT EVE.  THUS...CHC POPS SAT NGT AS
WELL.  STGR CDFNT TO ARRIVE LATE SUN/ERY MON...SO WL KEEP CHC/SLGT
CHC TSTMS IN THIS TIME FRAME AS WELL.  WITH CONSIDERABLE
UNCERTAINTY IN LATER PDS...WL LEAVE SLGT CHC POPS IN FOR WED...WITH
GRDL WMG TREND TUE THRU THU.  03

.AMA...
TX...NONE.
OK...NONE0.

COCKRELL

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 17, 8:58 PM CDT, 21 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
858 PM CDT THU MAY 17 2001

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE   ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0813 PM    GOODWELL                  OK   .88 INCH HAIL
05/17/01   TEXAS                          REPORTED BY TEXAS EOC.

0655 PM    3E-15NW GUYMON            OK   1.00 INCH HAIL
05/17/01   TEXAS                          REPORTED BY CO-OP OBSERVER

0844 PM    HARDESTY                  OK   55 MPH TSTM WIND GUST
05/17/01   TEXAS                          REPORTED BY PD

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 17, 8:27 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Hartley	48 min
May 17, 8:42 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Oldham	48 min
May 17, 9:10 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Hansford	50 min
May 17, 9:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Hutchinson	45 min
May 17, 9:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Randall	54 min
May 17, 9:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Carson	65 min
May 17, 10:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Potter	48 min
May 17, 10:16 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Deaf Smith	59 min
May 17, 10:34 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Gray, Roberts	26 min
May 17, 10:44 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Randall	46 min
May 17, 10:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Armstrong	42 min
May 17, 10:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Carson	31 min
May 17, 11:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Donley, Gray	60 min
May 17, 11:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Roberts	60 min
May 17, 11:25 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Collingsworth, Wheeler	65 min
May 17, 11:54 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Donley	51 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 2001 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2001

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.