Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 37, NWS Amarillo, TX

May 11, 2002Oldham County, Texas

NWS Amarillo, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 11, 2002, 12:44 AM CDT for Oldham County, Texas. It was in force for 46 min. 2 reports 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: May 11, 2002, 12:44 AM CDT (05:44 UTC)
Expired: May 11, 2002, 1:30 AM CDT
In force: 46 min
Issued by: NWS Amarillo, TX
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Oldham County, TX

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 80 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:47 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
May 11, 1:20 AM CDT	Hail 1.75	Boys Ranch, TX
May 11, 1:30 AM CDT	Hail 1.75	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 watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 10, 11:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 00:00Z, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 81 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: 83 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -459 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 915 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 149 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 250 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS54 KAMA 110544
SVRAMA
TXC359-110630-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
1245 AM CDT SAT MAY 11 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AMARILLO HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 130 AM CDT

* AT 1245 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 23 MILES WEST OF BOYS RANCH...OR ABOUT 17 MILES
  NORTHWEST OF VEGA...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED BY THE STORM INCLUDE...
  BOYS RANCH

BRIEF...BUT DANGEROUS TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM. STAY 
INDOORS AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

LARGE HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM-TAKE COVER NOW. GO
TO THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A STURDY BUILDING AND AVOID WINDOWS

LAT...LON 3551 10284 3527 10268 3539 10216 3561 10216
          3562 10252

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 10, 4:02 PM CDT, 8 hours 42 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 10, 4:02 PM CDT, 8 hours 42 minutes before

TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
315 PM CDT FRI MAY 10 2002

WMFNT FEATURE IS ABT TO ENTER SWRN CORNER OF FCST AREA ATTM.  MDT
LOW-LVL FLOW HAS REPLENISHED MSTR INTO UPR 40S TO MID 50S IN ALL BUT
NWRN CORNER OF FCST AREA.  DVLPG DRYLN EXPCD TO ENTER W-CNTRL ZNS
BFR SS.  100KT JET AT H2 WL ENTER WRN ZNS THIS EVE...AND H5 50 KT
JET WL ARRIVE IN NWRN ZNS BFR SS.  DEEP CNVGNC SEEN IN CLR AIR OVR
NERN NM AND SERN CO.  EXPC THAT TSTMS WL DVLP ALG DRYLN AND WMFNT
THIS EVE...AND SVR POTENTIAL WL EXIST...SPLY DUE TO SHEARED AMS.
WL CALL FOR SCT TSTMS 1ST PD.  SERN ZNS WL HAVE TO OVERCOME DEEP
DVGNC INITIALLY.

HAVE REMOVED POPS FM WRN ZNS FOR SAT...AS SWLY SFC WNDS EXPCD TO
MIX DRYLN EWD.  HAVE RETAINED SLGT CHC ELSEWHERE.  ON SAT NGT...
CDFNT EXPCD TO ARRIVE IN NRN ZNS BFR 05Z...AND CLR SERN SXNS BFR SR.
WITH STG DYNAMICS AND POOLING OF LOW-LVL MSTR BHND FNT...HAVE KEPT
CHC TSTMS ALL ZONES.  WNDY CONDS WITH FROPA WL ENHANCE CNVGNC.

COOLER CONDS ON SUN WITH UPSLP COMPONENT TO LOW-LVL FLOW...AND LOW
POPS RETAINED.  DRY AMS IN PLACE SUN NGT THRU MON NGT.  CHC TSTMS
TUE THRU FRI AS MSTR RTRNS.  03

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

COCKRELL

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 10, 10:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Deaf Smith	51 min
May 10, 11:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Hartley	38 min
May 10, 11:24 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Potter, Randall	51 min
May 10, 11:59 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	AMA	Oldham	46 min
May 11, 12:01 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Hutchinson	59 min
May 11, 12:24 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Hartley	36 min
May 11, 12:31 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Hansford, Ochiltree	59 min
May 11, 1:07 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	AMA	Oldham	38 min
May 11, 1:22 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Hartley, Moore	53 min
May 11, 1:50 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	AMA	Moore	40 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.