Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 187, NWS Amarillo, TX
NWS Amarillo, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 30, 2002, 6:33 PM CDT for Deaf Smith County, Oldham County, Texas. It was in force for 27 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
- Aug 30, 2002, 6:33 PM CDT (23:33 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 30, 2002, 7:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 27 min
- Issued by
- NWS Amarillo, TX
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
Counties Deaf Smith County, TX, Oldham County, TX
The radar
The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 81 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:36 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 30, 7:07 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Hereford, TX | The tornado remained over open country and caused no damage. The path length and width were estimated. |
| Aug 30, 7:10 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Boys Ranch, TX | |
| Aug 30, 7:10 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 52 E | Boys Ranch, 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 nearest sounding before it
Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 82 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 519 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -136 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 911 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 21 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 147 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 280 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 2.5
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 Aug 30, 2:46 PM CDT, 3 hours 47 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 30, 2:46 PM CDT, 3 hours 47 minutes before
TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 246 PM CDT FRI AUG 30 2002 MID LEVEL SHORT WAVE IS SPINNING THROUGH WESTERN KANSAS THIS AFTERNOON. SOME UPPER LEVEL CAPPING WAS FOUND ON THE 12Z AMA SOUNDING THIS MORNING. MOISTURE STILL LINGERS IN THE LOW LEVELS AROUND THE PANHANDLES. HOWEVER...SURFACE DEW POINTS ARE DRYING OUT ACROSS EASTERN NEW MEXICO BEHIND SURFACE TROUGH. 20 PERCENT POPS STILL LOOK GOOD FOR TONIGHT. SHORT WAVE WILL ADD SOME LIFT TO THE ATMOSPHERE AND THIS COULD GENERATE A FEW STORMS ACROSS THE CWA. FOG MAY ALSO MAKE A RETURN EARLY SATURDAY MORNING. MODELS SHOW THAT THE MOISTURE MAY BE LESS THAN THIS MORNING. BUT DO NOT REALLY SEE ANYTHING THAT WOULD DRY OUT THE LOW LAYERS. WE WILL MENTION SOME PATCHY FOR FOR SATURDAY MORNING WITH THIS IN MIND. SOME UPPER LEVEL JET ENERGY MOVES ACROSS COLORADO SATURDAY NIGHT AND ANOTHER SHORT WAVE TRACKS ACROSS THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE AND SOUTHWEST KANSAS...SO DECIDED TO GO AHEAD AND ADD 20 PERCENTS TO THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE. UPPER HIGH IS EXPECTED TO MOVE NORTHEAST AND EXPAND ACROSS MUCH OF THE EASTERN U.S. BY MID WEEK. IF THE HIGH DOES MOVE FAR ENOUGH EAST...THEN THIS COULD OPEN THE DOOR FOR SOME SUBTROPICAL MOISTURE TO BE BROUGHT UP THROUGH THE ROCKIES AND ADJACENT PLAINS. THE ECMWF HOLDS HIGHER HEIGHTS BACK ACROSS THE PANHANDLES AND THE MRF AND UKMET TRY TO KNOCK DOWN THE RIDGE WITH A NEW UPPER TROUGH MOVING THROUGH THE NORTHWEST U.S. WE WILL LEAN WITH THE SLOWER ECMWF MODEL AND KEEP THINGS DRY THROUGH LATE NEXT WEEK. A FEW NUMBERS TO PONDER: AMARILLO 62 85 63 90 / 20 00 00 00 BEAVER 62 90 65 90 / 20 00 20 00 BOISE CITY 60 86 62 87 / 20 00 20 00 BORGER 61 88 63 89 / 20 00 00 00 BOYS RANCH 61 87 62 89 / 20 00 00 00 CANYON 62 85 62 90 / 20 00 00 00 CLARENDON 65 91 68 91 / 20 00 00 00 DALHART 60 87 62 88 / 20 00 00 00 GUYMON 61 90 64 90 / 20 00 20 00 HEREFORD 61 87 61 90 / 20 00 00 00 LIPSCOMB 63 90 66 90 / 20 00 00 00 PAMPA 65 90 67 90 / 20 00 00 00 SHAMROCK 66 91 68 93 / 20 00 00 00 WELLINGTON 66 91 68 93 / 20 00 00 00 .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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 30, 5:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Hutchinson | 46 min |
| Aug 30, 6:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Oldham | 44 min |
| Aug 30, 6:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Moore, Potter | 38 min |
| Aug 30, 6:59 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | AMA | Deaf Smith | 31 min |
| Aug 30, 6:59 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | AMA | Deaf Smith | 31 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 2002Every 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.