Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Brownsville, TX

October 7, 1986Cameron County, Willacy County, Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this tornado warning at Oct 7, 1986, 1:23 PM CDT for Cameron County, Willacy County, Texas. It was in force for 37 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Oct 7, 1986, 1:23 PM CDT (18:23 UTC)
Expired
Oct 7, 1986, 2:00 PM CDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Brownsville, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Cameron County, TX, Willacy County, TX

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Oct 7, 1:23 PM CDTTornado F0Cameron, 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. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Brownsville Intl, TX (KBRO), launched 12:00Z, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 48 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, Brownsville Intl, TX at 12:00Z on 1986-10-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 203 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, Brownsville Intl, TX at 12:00Z on 1986-10-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 8 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
203 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-50 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
731 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
3 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 
TTAA00 KBRO 071825 COR
TORBRO
TXC061-489-071930-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING ...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
123 PM CDT TUE OCT 7 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 200 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

EXTREME SOUTH TEXAS...NORTHERN CAMERON AND SOUTHERN WILLACY

AT 115 PM CDT...A TORNADO WAS REPORTED 5 MILES NORTH OF HARLINGEN
MOVING TO THE SOUTH AT 5 MPH. BROWNSVILLE WEATHER RADAR INDICATED
A THUNDERSTORM IN THAT AREA WITH VERY LITTLE MOVEMENT.

A TORNADO IS OFTEN PRECEDED BY HAIL...AND JUST BEFORE HITTING
PRODUCES A LOAD ROARING NOISE AND POPPING OF THE EARS. THE TORNADO
IS OFTEN VISIBLE AS A ROTATING FUNNEL SHAPED CLOUD...WHICH
GENERALLY PRODUCES A DUST AND DEBRIS CLOUD AT THE GROUND.
IF YOU THINK A TORNADO IS APPROACHING...THE BEST SHELTER IS ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR...IN A SMALL ROOM SUCH AS CLOSETS...BATHROOMS...OR
HALLWAYS NEAR THE CENTER OF THE BUILDING...AND AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
TRY TO PROTECT HEAD AND CHEST.

VEHICLES AND MOBILE HOMES ARE VERY DANGEROUS PLACES IN A TORNADO.
TAKE SHELTER IN A REGULAR BUILDING...OR LIE FLAT ON THE GROUND IN
A DITCH OR GUTTER TO GET OUT OF THE PATH OF FLYING DEBRIS.

YOU SHOULD ASK THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO RELAY YOUR
SEVERE WEATHER REPORTS TO THE BROWNSVILLE WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.

PLEASE LISTEN TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO..TV..OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR
LATER STATEME%NTS OR WARNINGS REGARDING THIS DANGEROUS WEATHER

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 7, 3:13 PM CDTTornado WarningBROCameron62 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1986Every tornado warning in 1986Tornadoes in 1986

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.