Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Amarillo, TX

April 13, 2002Potter County, Randall County, Texas

NWS Amarillo, TX issued this tornado warning at Apr 13, 2002, 3:17 AM CDT for Potter County, Randall County, Texas. It was in force for 28 min. 4 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: Apr 13, 2002, 3:17 AM CDT (08:17 UTC)
Expired: Apr 13, 2002, 3:45 AM CDT
In force: 28 min
Issued by: NWS Amarillo, TX
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Potter County, TX, Randall County, TX

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 12 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:17 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
Apr 13, 3:17 AM CDT	Hail 1.75	Amarillo, TX
Apr 13, 3:30 AM CDT	Hail 1.75	Canyon, TX
Apr 13, 3:40 AM CDT	Hail 0.88	Amarillo, TX
Apr 13, 3:50 AM CDT	Hail 0.75	Amarillo Intl 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.

The watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Apr 12, 11:30 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 00:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 13 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: 880 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1630 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 69 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 14 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -51 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KAMA 130817
TORAMA
TXC375-381-130845-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
316 AM CDT SAT APR 13 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AMARILLO HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN POTTER COUNTY IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE
  NORTHERN RANDALL COUNTY IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE

* UNTIL 345 AM CDT

* AT 316 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO. THE MOST DANGEROUS
  PORTION OF THE STORM WAS LOCATED OVER AMARILLO...MOVING EAST AT 40
  MPH.

TORNADOES AT NIGHT ARE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL YOU
SEE OR HEAR THE TORNADO-IT MAY BE TOO LATE. TAKE COVER NOW LAT...LON
3529 10195 3510 10197 3507 10166 3528 10166

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 12, 10:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Hartley	52 min
Apr 12, 11:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Oldham	60 min
Apr 13, 12:01 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Hartley	29 min
Apr 13, 12:44 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Potter	46 min
Apr 13, 1:21 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Oldham	54 min
Apr 13, 2:04 AM CDT	Tornado Warning	AMA	Oldham	41 min
Apr 13, 2:36 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Potter, Randall	54 min
Apr 13, 3:41 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Armstrong, Potter, Randall	34 min
Apr 13, 3:49 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Oldham	26 min
Apr 13, 4:17 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Armstrong, Randall	58 min
Apr 13, 5:06 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Deaf Smith	44 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 2002 Every tornado warning in 2002 Tornadoes 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.