Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 11, NWS Amarillo, TX

April 13, 2002Potter County, Texas

NWS Amarillo, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 13, 2002, 12:44 AM CDT for Potter County, Texas. It was in force for 46 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Apr 13, 2002, 12:44 AM CDT (05:44 UTC)
Expired: Apr 13, 2002, 1:30 AM CDT
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS Amarillo, TX
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Potter County, TX

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 38 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:46 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	Remark
Apr 13, 12:48 AM CDT	Hail 0.75	Ady, 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.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Apr 12, 7:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr
Apr 12, 11:30 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 00:00Z, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 39 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: 880 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1630 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 69 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 14 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -51 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.

000 
WUUS54 KAMA 130544
SVRAMA
TXC375-130630-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
1243 AM CDT SAT APR 13 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AMARILLO HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 130 AM CDT

* AT 1243 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER VALLEY DE ORO...MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

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.

LAT...LON 3560 10213 3537 10215 3537 10172 3560 10166

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 12, 2:25 PM CDT, 10 hours 19 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 12, 2:25 PM CDT, 10 hours 19 minutes before

TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
225 PM CDT FRI APR 12 2002

INITIAL COLD FRONT HAS DRIFTED WELL SOUTH OF THE PANHANDLES
THIS AFTERNOON. SURFACE FLOW IS NOW RESPONDING TO THE SHORT
WAVE MOVING ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN INTO THE CENTRAL ROCKIES.
THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING OVER THE SOUTHERN COLORADO AND
NORTHERN NEW MEXICO MOUNTAINS NOW. THESE STORMS ARE EXPECTED TO
CONTINUE TO DRIFT EAST SOUTHEAST THROUGH TONIGHT AND INCREASE
IN COVERAGE AS THEY DO.  DIFFLUENT THICKNESS ACROSS THE
NORTHERN ZONES AND MOIST SOUTHEAST UPSLOPE WINDS SUGGEST THE
POSSIBILITY OF HEAVY RAIN ALONG WITH THE SEVERE THREAT THAT SPS
HAS LAID OUT IN THE DAY ONE AND DAY TWO OUTLOOKS. SHORT WAVE SHOULD
ONLY SLOWLY DRAG ACROSS THE AREA TONIGHT AND SATURDAY...SO WILL
LINGER SOME HIGHER POPS INTO SATURDAY...ESPECIALLY ACROSS THE
EAST. IT ALSO LOOKS LIKE THE NORTHERN ZONES WILL BE MOST FAVORED
TONIGHT...SO WILL GO WITH HIGHER POPS THERE.

SEVERE THREAT COULD LINGER INTO SATURDAY AS PER SWODY2...HOWEVER IT
WILL DEPEND ON HOW MUCH HEATING WE CAN GET DURING THE DAY AND HOW
MANY LEFTOVER BOUNDARIES THERE ARE.

THE THUNDERSTORM CHANCES WILL GO DOWN FOR SUNDAY AS LEE-SIDE
TROUGH GETS ESTABLISHED. HOWEVER...LOW LEVEL MOISTURE WILL STILL BE
AROUND...AND WITH STRONG HEATING...COULD NOT RULE OUT SOME
CONVECTION.

WE WILL NOT CHANGE MUCH TO THE EXTENDED FORECAST. UPPER FLOW GOES
FROM A WEAK ZONAL FLOW THIS WEEKEND TO A MUCH FASTER SOUTHWEST FLOW
BY MID NEXT WEEK. A STRONG UPPER LEVEL TROUGH IS FORECAST TO DIG INTO
THE NORTHERN ROCKIES AND THE PANHANDLES WILL BE TO THE SOUTHEAST OF
THIS TROUGH. COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE THROUGH TUESDAY NIGHT
AND THEN A REINFORCING SHOT MOVES THROUGH THURSDAY NIGHT. FOR NOW
WE WILL KEEP SLIGHT CHANCES OF CONVECTION IN THE FORECAST WHERE IT
IS AND WE WILL ADD FRIDAY WITH A SLIGHT CHANCE AS WELL.

A FEW NUMBERS TO PONDER:

AMA 51/71 50/80 51 642
DHT 48/71 47/79 48 +32
BVR 52/70 51/80 52 +52

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

GOEHRING

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 12, 10:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Hartley	52 min
Apr 12, 11:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Oldham	60 min
Apr 13, 12:01 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Hartley	29 min
Apr 13, 1:21 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Oldham	54 min
Apr 13, 2:04 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	AMA	Oldham	41 min
Apr 13, 2:36 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Potter, Randall	54 min
Apr 13, 3:17 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	AMA	Potter, Randall	28 min
Apr 13, 3:41 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Armstrong, Potter, Randall	34 min
Apr 13, 3:49 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Oldham	26 min
Apr 13, 4:17 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Armstrong, Randall	58 min
Apr 13, 5:06 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Deaf Smith	44 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 2002 Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2002

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.