Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 68, NWS Amarillo, TX

May 23, 2002Hansford County, Hutchinson County, Ochiltree County, Texas

NWS Amarillo, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 23, 2002, 7:43 PM CDT for Hansford County, Hutchinson County, Ochiltree County, Texas. It was in force for 62 min. 3 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 23, 2002, 7:43 PM CDT (00:43 UTC)
Expired
May 23, 2002, 8:45 PM CDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Amarillo, TX
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Hansford County, TX, Hutchinson County, TX, Ochiltree County, TX

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 101 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:46 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 23, 7:45 PM CDTHail 2.5Borger, TXThe large hail damaged several vehicles.
May 23, 8:25 PM CDTHail 0.88Waka, TX
May 23, 8:50 PM CDTHail 0.75Waka, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 23, 5:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 100 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 2002-05-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2121 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 2002-05-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 98 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
2121 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-33 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1591 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
98 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
206 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.0
Supercell composite
13.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS54 KAMA 240043
SVRAMA
TXC195-233-357-240145-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
740 PM CDT THU MAY 23 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AMARILLO HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  HANSFORD COUNTY IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE
  OCHILTREE COUNTY IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE
  HUTCHINSON COUNTY IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE

* UNTIL 845 PM CDT

* AT 740 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED 
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS BETWEEN BORGER AND STINNETT AND NEAR SPEARMAN
  MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. OTHER SEVER STORMS ARE OVER OCHILTREE
  COUNTY 3 MILES NORTH OF PERRYTON.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED BY THE STORM INCLUDE...
  SPEARMAN...PERRYTON...BORGER...WOLF CREEK PARK...WAKA...PRINGLE...
  FARNSWORTH...STINNETT AND GRUVER

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

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

INTENSE LIGHTNING IS ALSO OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM. MOVE INDOORS.

LAT...LON 3574 10155 3564 10145 3570 10115 3608 10110
          3611 10061 3647 10058 3644 10104 3626 10142

SLATTERY

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 23, 2:55 PM CDT, 4 hours 48 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 23, 2:55 PM CDT, 4 hours 48 minutes before
TEXAS/OKLAHOMA PANHANDLES FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
255 PM CDT THU MAY 23 2002

LATEST ANALYSIS SUGGESTS THAT COLD FRONT HAS STALLED OVER CNTRL ZNS
AS A NEW SFC LOW GETS BETTER ORGANIZED BETWEEN KROW AND KCVS AS
HINTED BY ETA MODEL. THIS SFC LOW IS PROGGED BY ALL SHORT RANGE
MODELS TO TRACK NEWD THRU FCST AREA TNGT AND FRI...WITH FRONTAL
BOUNDARY ACTUALLY RETREATING NWD TO NRN ZNS IN ACCORDANCE WITH 12Z
ETA/AVN/NGM...THEN MOVG SWD AGAIN LATER FRI AND FRI NIGHT...OUT OF
THE PNHDLS BY 12Z SAT. WILL CONTINUE TO CARRY HIGHEST POPS NERN HALF
TNGT...SLGT CHC ALL ZNS FRI...CHC POPS FRI NIGHT THRU THE MEMORIAL
WEEKEND. UA PATTERN FEATURES BROAD WSW FLOW WITH EMBEDDED
DISTURBANCES ZIPPING ACROSS ON OCCASION. COMBINATION OF MOISTURE...
WEAK IMPULSES AND PROXIMITY OF SFC BOUNDARIES WARRANTS THE CHC POPS
THRU WEEKEND...AGAIN FAIRLY TYPICAL OF CLIMATOLOGY OF LATE MAY HERE
ON SRN HI PLAINS. MEDIUM RANGE MODELS TEND TO AGREE ON BROAD WSW
FLOW ALOFT CONTINUING INTO TUE BEFORE HEIGHTS RISE AND RIDGING
OCCURS OVER WRN US. DEPENDING ON RIDGE AXIS...COULD SEE SOME SORT OF
NW FLOW OVER PNHDLS WED AND THU WHICH ALWAYS RAISES A CONCERN OF NW
FLOW WX EVENTS. WILL MAINTAIN THE CHC POPS FOR WED AND ADD THU IN AS
WELL DUE TO THAT PSBLTY BASED ON SOME SEMBLANCE OF MEDIUM RANGE
MODEL AGREEMENT...EXCEPTION BEING THE ECMWF WHICH HOLDS ON TO
SLIGHTLY LOWER HEIGHTS A BIT LONGER.

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

ANDRADE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 23, 7:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAHutchinson30 min
May 23, 7:49 PM CDTTornado WarningAMAHutchinson26 min
May 23, 8:14 PM CDTTornado WarningAMAHutchinson31 min
May 23, 8:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAMoore30 min
May 23, 8:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAHutchinson, Ochiltree, Roberts57 min
May 23, 8:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAHutchinson, Ochiltree, Roberts49 min
May 23, 9:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAHutchinson, Roberts43 min
May 23, 11:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMARoberts38 min
May 23, 11:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAHemphill, Roberts45 min
May 24, 12:27 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAHemphill63 min
May 24, 1:09 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMALipscomb66 min
May 24, 2:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMALipscomb30 min
May 24, 2:34 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMALipscomb26 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.