Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 2002
Tornado Watch 88
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 12, 2002, 11:30 PM CDT for 5 counties in Oklahoma; 23 counties in Texas. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 12, 2002, 11:30 PM CDT (04:30 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 13, 2002, 5:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
All 28 counties
Beckham County, OK, Greer County, OK, Harmon County, OK, Roger Mills County, OK, Texas County, OK, Armstrong County, TX, Briscoe County, TX, Carson County, TX, Childress County, TX, Collingsworth County, TX, Donley County, TX, Floyd County, TX, Gray County, TX, Hall County, TX, Hansford County, TX, Hartley County, TX, Hemphill County, TX, Hutchinson County, TX, Moore County, TX, Motley County, TX, Ochiltree County, TX, Oldham County, TX, Potter County, TX, Randall County, TX, Roberts County, TX, Sherman County, TX, Swisher County, TX, Wheeler County, TX
The radar
The Amarillo radar (KAMA), 73 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:31 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.
Warnings issued inside it
10 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 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, 3:17 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | AMA | Potter, Randall | 28 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 |
The nearest sounding before it
Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 00:00Z, 4.5 hours before the alert went out and 73 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WWUS20 KWNS 130428 SEL8 SPC WW 130419 OKZ000-TXZ000-131000- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 88 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 1119 PM CDT FRI APR 12 2002 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN OKLAHOMA AND THE EASTERN OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE THE TEXAS PANHANDLE EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING FROM 1130 PM UNTIL 500 AM CDT. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 75 STATUTE MILES EITHER SIDE OF A LINE FROM 75 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF AMARILLO TEXAS TO 20 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF CHILDRESS TEXAS. REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 87. WATCH NUMBER 87 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 1130 PM CDT. DISCUSSION...TORNADO THREAT APPEARS TO BE INCREASING WITH STORM COMPLEX MOVING ESE ACROSS THE NWRN PART OF THE TX PANHANDLE. LOW LEVEL SELY WINDS HAVE INCREASED AHEAD OF COMPLEX...PER TCU PROFILER AND CANON AFB NM /KFDX/ VWP DATA. RADAR DATA ATTM SHOW EMBEDDED SUPERCELLS IN STORM COMPLEX....AND ASSOCIATED COLD POOL DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE VERY STRONG. COUPLED WITH ENVIRONMENT OF HIGH RELATIVE HUMIDITY/MODERATE TO STRONG LOW LEVEL VEERING PROFILE... THREAT FOR TORNADOES APPEARS HIGH ENOUGH TO WARRANT WW UPGRADE. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 30035. ...CORFIDI 370,1012 352,0990 334,1004 352,1030 WWUS20 KWNS 130428 SEL8 SPC WW 130419 OKZ000-TXZ000-131000- URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 88 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 1119 PM CDT FRI APR 12 2002 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF WESTERN OKLAHOMA AND THE EASTERN OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE THE TEXAS PANHANDLE EFFECTIVE THIS FRIDAY NIGHT AND SATURDAY MORNING FROM 1130 PM UNTIL 500 AM CDT. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 3 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 75 STATUTE MILES EITHER SIDE OF A LINE FROM 75 MILES NORTH NORTHWEST OF AMARILLO TEXAS TO 20 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF CHILDRESS TEXAS. REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 87. WATCH NUMBER 87 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 1130 PM CDT. DISCUSSION...TORNADO THREAT APPEARS TO BE INCREASING WITH STORM COMPLEX MOVING ESE ACROSS THE NWRN PART OF THE TX PANHANDLE. LOW LEVEL SELY WINDS HAVE INCREASED AHEAD OF COMPLEX...PER TCU PROFILER AND CANON AFB NM /KFDX/ VWP DATA. RADAR DATA ATTM SHOW EMBEDDED SUPERCELLS IN STORM COMPLEX....AND ASSOCIATED COLD POOL DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE VERY STRONG. COUPLED WITH ENVIRONMENT OF HIGH RELATIVE HUMIDITY/MODERATE TO STRONG LOW LEVEL VEERING PROFILE... THREAT FOR TORNADOES APPEARS HIGH ENOUGH TO WARRANT WW UPGRADE. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 3 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 30035. ...CORFIDI 370,1012 352,0990 334,1004 352,1030
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 12, 7:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Beaver, Cimarron, Texas | 6 hr |
| Apr 13, 4:45 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Beckham, Blaine, Comanche, Custer, Dewey, Greer and 6 more | 5 hr |
| Apr 13, 7:45 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Bryan, Caddo, Canadian, Carter, Cleveland, Coal and 16 more | 5 hr |
| Apr 13, 10:45 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Atoka, Bryan, Carter, Choctaw, Johnston, Love and 4 more | 5 hr |
| Apr 13, 5:00 AM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | Armstrong, Briscoe, Carson, Castro, Childress, Collingsworth and 13 more | 5 hr |
| Apr 13, 3:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | Bailey, Briscoe, Childress, Cochran, Cottle, Crosby and 16 more | 5 hr |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Texas, 2002Tornado Watches in Oklahoma, 2002Every tornado watch 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.