Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Amarillo, TX

May 5, 2002Armstrong County, Randall County, Texas

NWS Amarillo, TX issued this tornado warning at May 5, 2002, 6:59 PM CDT for Armstrong County, Randall County, Texas. It was in force for 31 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 5, 2002, 6:59 PM CDT (23:59 UTC)
Expired: May 5, 2002, 7:30 PM CDT
In force: 31 min
Issued by: NWS Amarillo, TX
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Armstrong County, TX, Randall County, TX

The radar

The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 40 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:00 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 5, 7:11 PM CDT	Tornado F0	Wayside, TX	The tornado remained over open country and no damage or injuries were reported. The tornado path length and width were estimated.
May 5, 7:15 PM CDT	Hail 1	Wayside, TX
May 5, 7:36 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	Claude, 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
May 5, 4:45 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 12:00Z, 12.0 hours before the alert went out and 40 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: 1503 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -85 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 666 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 59 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 153 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 132 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 5.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KAMA 052359
TORAMA
TXC011-381-060030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
657 PM CDT SUN MAY 5 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AMARILLO HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHEAST RANDALL COUNTY IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE
  SOUTHWEST ARMSTRONG COUNTY IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE

* UNTIL 730 PM CDT

* AT 657 PM CDT...A LARGE DAMAGING TORNADO WAS REPORTED 7 MILES 
  SOUTH OF PALO DURO CANYON...OR ABOUT 17 MILES SOUTHEAST OF CANYON...
  MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED BY THE STORM INCLUDE...
  WAYSIDE AND PALO DURO CANYON

THIS IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND LIFE THREATENING SITUATION. IF YOU
ARE NEAR THE PATH OF THIS LARGE AND DESTRUCTIVE TORNADO...TAKE COVER
NOW

A TORNADO HAS BEEN CONFIRMED TAKE COVER IN A STURDY BUILDING NOW.
MOBILE HOMES AND VEHICLES ARE NOT SAFE. 

LAT...LON 3486 10181 3477 10177 3478 10137 3499 10143 3499 10166

SLATTERY

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 5, 3:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Moore	31 min
May 5, 4:30 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Moore	45 min
May 5, 4:51 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Deaf Smith	39 min
May 5, 5:02 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	AMA	Hansford, Hutchinson	58 min
May 5, 5:22 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Deaf Smith, Oldham, Potter, Randall	53 min
May 5, 5:35 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	AMA	Deaf Smith	25 min
May 5, 5:55 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	AMA	Randall	35 min
May 5, 6:01 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Hutchinson, Moore, Ochiltree, Potter	59 min
May 5, 6:04 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	AMA	Roberts	56 min
May 5, 6:32 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	AMA	Randall	28 min
May 5, 6:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Hansford	50 min
May 5, 6:59 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	AMA	Lipscomb	61 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.