Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 46, NWS Fort Worth, TX

May 6, 1986Coleman County, Texas

NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this tornado warning at May 6, 1986, 8:20 PM CDT for Coleman County, Texas. It was in force for 55 min. 4 reports 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
May 6, 1986, 8:20 PM CDT (01:20 UTC)
Expired
May 6, 1986, 9:15 PM CDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Fort Worth, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Coleman 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
May 6, 8:45 PM CDTTornado F0Coleman, TX
May 6, 9:00 PM CDTHail 1.75Coleman, TX
May 6, 9:00 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Coleman, TX
May 6, 9:00 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Coleman, 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

Stephenville/Cla, TX (KSEP), launched 00:00Z, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 137 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, Stephenville/Cla, TX at 00:00Z on 1986-05-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 592 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Stephenville/Cla, TX at 00:00Z on 1986-05-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 57 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 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
592 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-151 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1145 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
57 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
38 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 6, 5:26 PM CDT, 2 hours 54 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
525 PM CDT TUE MAY 6 1986

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY IN WESTERN PORTION OF NORTH TEXAS...

AT 520 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF
RAPIDLY DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE WESTERN PORTION OF NORTH
TEXAS. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE ENTERING THE WESTERN PORTIONS OF
STEPHENS AND EASTLAND COUNTIES.

THE ATMOSPHERE ACROSS NORTH TEXAS IS VERY UNSTABLE AND THESE
THUNDERSTORMS COULD CONTINUE TO DEVELOP DURING THE NEXT COUPLE OF
HOURS. RESIDENTS OF STEPHENS AND EASTLAND COUNTIES CAN EXPECT GUSTY
WINDS AND POSSIBLY SOME HAIL FROM THESE STORMS. THE NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE WILL CONTINUE TO CLOSELY MONITOR THESE THUNDERSTORMS.

LISTEN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL RADIO/TV FOR ADDITIONAL
STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, May 6, 8:08 PM CDT, 12 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
810 PM CDT TUE MAY 06 1986

 ...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL
TEXAS AND CENTRAL OKLAHOMA UNTIL MIDNIGHT THIS TUESDAY EVENING.  THE
WATCH INCLUDES THE DALLAS/FORT WORTH METROPLEX..MINERAL WELLS/
WEATHERFORD AREA AND THE DENTON/GAINSVILLE VICINITY...

AT 805 PM CDT..NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS..SOME INTENSE..EXTENDED FROM NEAR SAN ANGELO
TO COLEMAN..NORTHWARD TO ALBANY..THROCKMORTON AND WICHITA FALLS.
MOVEMENT WAS GENERALLY TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

THE MOST INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE OVER NORTHERN COLEMAN AND SOUTHERN
CALLAHAN COUNTIES.  OTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE INDICATED IN
THROCKMORTON AND YOUNG COUNTIES.

THESE INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING LOCALLY HEAVY
RAINS..DAMAGING SURFACE WINDS..DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND POSSIBLE LARGE
HAIL.

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 kPOSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 6, 7:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDArcher, Wichita45 min
May 6, 8:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDCallahan, Coleman60 min
May 6, 9:13 PM CDTTornado WarningFWDColeman62 min
May 7, 5:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDStonewall40 min
May 7, 6:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDTaylor65 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.