Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 6, NWS Amarillo, TX
NWS Amarillo, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 12, 2002, 6:49 AM CDT for Wheeler County, Texas. It was in force for 41 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 12, 2002, 6:49 AM CDT (11:49 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 12, 2002, 7:30 AM CDT
- In force
- 41 min
- Issued by
- NWS Amarillo, TX
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Wheeler County, TX
The radar
The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 127 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 11:51 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 12, 7:17 AM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Wheeler, 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 00:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 126 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
- 1 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -5 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 2565 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 38 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 21 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 60 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WUUS54 KAMA 121149 SVRAMA TXC483-121230- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 647 AM CDT FRI APR 12 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AMARILLO HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... SOUTHERN WHEELER COUNTY IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE * UNTIL 730 AM CDT * AT 647 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR KELLERVILLE...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH. * SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED BY THE STORM INCLUDE... KELLERVILLE AND SHAMROCK HAIL UP TO NICKEL SIZE IS EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. TAKE COVER IN A SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. LAT...LON 3522 10050 3522 10003 3551 10003 3551 10053
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, 3:30 AM CDT, 3 hours 19 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 12, 3:30 AM CDT, 3 hours 19 minutes before
TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 330 AM CDT FRI APR 12 2002 LATEST ANALYSIS SHOWS WEAK COLD FRONT DRAPED ACROSS NRN HALF OF FCST AREA WITH DRYLINE EXTNDG FROM JUST W OF KAMA TO NEAR KLBB TO W OF KMAF AND KFST. WEAK SFC LOW BEGINNING TO MATERIALIZE NEAR KINK. WATER VAPOR IMAGERY REVEALS A SHORTWAVE TROF HEADING SEWD THRU OREGON AND NRN CA TOWARDS GREAT BASIN REGION. EXPECT SFC FRONT TO CONTINUE SETTLING SWD AGAIN TODAY AND BECOME QSTNRY S OF FCST AREA WHILE WRN TAIL END OF IT BECOMES MORE OF AN INVERTED TROF OVER ERN NM. SFC DRYLINE WILL CONTINUE TO GET SQUEEZED SWD AS FRONTAL BOUNDARY PUSHES THRU PNHDLS. BEHIND THIS FRONT...WEAK EASTERLY OR SERLY BOUNDARY LAYER FLOW WILL ENSUE ACROSS FCST AREA INTO ERN NM... WITH LOW LVL MOISTURE BEING ADVECTED WWD INTO OUR AREA. SHORT RANGE MODELS PROG AFOREMENTIONED SHORTWAVE TROF TO TRACK ACROSS FOUR CORNERS REGION INTO NRN HALF OF NM LATER THIS AFTN...THEN ACROSS FCST AREA TNGT INTO EARLY SAT. THE COMBINATION OF MID LVL WNW FLOW... MOISTURE...DAYTIME HEATING AND INSTABILITY...SUFFICIENT LIFT AHEAD OF APCHG SHORTWAVE TROF...AND EASTERLY LOW LVL WIND COMPONENTS ALONG AND JUST N OF FRONTAL BOUNDARY WILL INCREASE POTENTIAL FOR MORE ORGANIZED TSTM DVLPMT...PSBLY SVR...LATE THIS AFTN AND TNGT. EXPECT STORMS TO FIRST FIRE OVER ERN NM SOMETIME THIS AFTN...THEN SPREAD E AND ESE ACROSS PNHDLS THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT. WILL KEEP LOW POPS ALL ZNS TODAY...THEN BOOST SECOND PERIOD UP A BIT FROM PREVIOUS PCKG AND RETAIN MENTION OF SVR. SPC DAY1 OUTLOOK AND QPF DAY1 FCST SEEM REASONABLE. HAVE LEANED WITH ETA HANDLING FIRST 24 HRS WITH FURTHER SWD FRONTAL POSITION AND RESULTANT QPF MAX. SHORTWAVE TROF TO SLIDE ESE OF PNHDLS SATURDAY...AND FRONTAL BOUNDARY SHOULD ALSO GET A NUDGE FURTHER S DUE TO EXPECTED CONVECTIVE COMPLEX LATER THIS AFTN AND TNGT. THIS MAY SERVE TO FOCUS BEST THREAT OF TSTMS S OF OUR AREA...AND WILL LOWER POPS SAT TO SLIGHT CHC VARIETY. SOME RESIDUAL MOISTURE SEEN SUNDAY AS WELL... AND WILL KEEP SLGT CHC ALREADY INHERITED FOR NOW. ECMWF/UKMET/CANADIAN/NOGAPS/MRF NOW COMING INTO SOME SEMBLANCE OF AGREEMENT DURG EXTENDED PERIODS. ALL FEATURE AN AMPLIFICATON TO THE UA PATTERN BY CARVING OUT A TROF ACROSS WRN US AND RIDGING IN THE ERN US. HOWEVER...THEY STILL DIFFER ON TIMING...TRACK...AND INTENSITY OF SHORTWAVE TROFS EMBEDDED IN THIS PATTERN. RIGHT NOW... NO MATTER WHICH SOLUTION YOU LOOK AT...FOR US IT SEEMS LIKE DRY AND WINDY WX FOR MON AS PRESSURE GRADS STEEPEN DUE TO INTENSIFYING LEESIDE TROF...DRY TUE AS WELL. LOOKS LIKE SOME SORT OF COLD FRONTAL PASSAGE AFTER TUE...AND WILL RETAIN THE COOLER TEMPS AND LOW POPS FOR WED AND THU. OVERALL...PREVIOUS PCKG IN PRETTY GOOD SHAPE WITH SOME MINOR ADJUSTMENTS HERE AND THERE PLANNED. PRELIM VALUES FOLLOW. DHT 72/49/71/48 2622 GUY 73/51/72/51 2622 BGD 74/52/73/52 2622 AMA 75/52/73/51 2622 .AMA... TX...NONE. OK...NONE. ANDRADE
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Apr 12, 6:40 AM CDT, 9 minutes before
OKZ001>003-TXZ001>020-121800- TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX 640 AM CDT FRI APR 12 2002 THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS ALL OF THE OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS PANHANDLES THROUGH TONIGHT. AS OF EARLY MORNING...A COLD FRONT WAS LOCATED OVER THE EXTREME SOUTHERN TEXAS PANHANDLE AND WILL CONTINUE TO MOVE SOUTH THIS MORNING BEFORE BECOMING NEARLY STATIONARY ACROSS THE TEXAS SOUTH PLAINS. LOW LEVEL EASTERLY UPSLOPE FLOW WILL TRANSPORT MOISTURE INTO THE OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS PANHANDLES THROUGH TONIGHT. IN ADDITION...AN UPPER LEVEL LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM IS FORECAST TO MOVE INTO NORTHERN NEW MEXICO LATER THIS AFTERNOON...THEN ACROSS THE PANHANDLES THIS EVENING AND TONIGHT. THIS WILL SET THE STAGE FOR ADDITIONAL SHOWER AND THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT THROUGH TONIGHT. SOME OF THE STORMS WHICH FORM WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO BECOME SEVERE...WITH LARGE HAIL EXPECTED TO BE THE PRIMARY THREAT. HOWEVER...ATMOSPHERIC WIND PROFILES WILL BE SOMEWHAT FAVORABLE FOR POSSIBLE DEVELOPMENT OF ISOLATED TORNADOES. SPOTTERS AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS ACROSS ALL OF THE OKLAHOMA AND TEXAS PANHANDLES SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND BE READY FOR ACTIVATION LATER TODAY OR TONIGHT. THE NEXT REGULARLY SCHEDULED OUTLOOK WILL BE ISSUED AROUND 1 PM CDT. PLATT/ANDRADE
The office that day
Everything else NWS Amarillo, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 12, 6:03 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Hutchinson, Moore | 42 min |
| Apr 12, 6:45 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Carson, Hutchinson | 45 min |
| Apr 12, 7:39 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | AMA | Gray | 51 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.