Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 73, NWS Amarillo, TX

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

NWS Amarillo, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 23, 2002, 8:56 PM CDT for Hutchinson County, Ochiltree County, Roberts County, Texas. It was in force for 49 min. 6 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, 8:56 PM CDT (01:56 UTC)
Expired: May 23, 2002, 9:45 PM CDT
In force: 49 min
Issued by: NWS Amarillo, TX
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Hutchinson County, TX, Ochiltree County, TX, Roberts County, TX

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 101 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:56 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 23, 9:05 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Borger, TX	The tornado occurred over open country and no damage was reported. The tornado path width and length were estimated.
May 23, 9:10 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Miami, TX
May 23, 9:12 PM CDT	Hail 1.75	Stinnett, TX
May 23, 9:23 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Stinnett, TX
May 23, 9:31 PM CDT	Hail 1	Stinnett, TX
May 23, 9:55 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52 M	Hutchison Co Arpt, 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 23, 5:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 00:00Z, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 101 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: 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 240148
SVRAMA
TXC233-357-393-240245-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AMARILLO HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 945 PM CDT

* AT 845 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED 
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS 14 MILES EAST OF STINNETT...8 MILES EAST/NORTHEAST
  OF BORGER AND 20 MILES SOUTH OF PERRYTON. 

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

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 3567 10157 3564 10069 3598 10057 3647 10058
          3645 10104 3606 10106 3596 10160


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, 6 hours 1 minute earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 23, 2:55 PM CDT, 6 hours 1 minute 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 23, 7:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Hutchinson	30 min
May 23, 7:43 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Hansford, Hutchinson, Ochiltree	62 min
May 23, 7:49 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	AMA	Hutchinson	26 min
May 23, 8:14 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	AMA	Hutchinson	31 min
May 23, 8:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Moore	30 min
May 23, 8:48 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Hutchinson, Ochiltree, Roberts	57 min
May 23, 9:47 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Hutchinson, Roberts	43 min
May 23, 11:07 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Roberts	38 min
May 23, 11:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Hemphill, Roberts	45 min
May 24, 12:27 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Hemphill	63 min
May 24, 1:09 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Lipscomb	66 min
May 24, 2:30 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Lipscomb	30 min
May 24, 2:34 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Lipscomb	26 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.