Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1986
Tornado Warning 69, NWS Fort Worth, TX
NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this tornado warning at May 16, 1986, 10:48 PM CDT for Wilbarger County, Texas. It was in force for 62 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
- May 16, 1986, 10:48 PM CDT (03:48 UTC)
- Expired
- May 16, 1986, 11:50 PM CDT
- In force
- 62 min
- Issued by
- NWS Fort Worth, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Wilbarger 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 16, 10:50 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Wilbarger, 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
Ok Cty/Will Rgrs, OK (KOKC), launched 00:00Z, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 210 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
- 2930 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 856 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 27 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 81 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 102 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.0
- Supercell composite
- 5.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KSPS 170353 COR TORSPS TXC487-170450- BULLETIN-EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING...CORRECTION... NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA FALLS TX 1048 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1986 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EXTENDED THE TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1150 PM CDT FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS...WILBARGER. AT 1045PM A VERY LARGE AND DANGEROUS THUNDERSTORM WHICH HAS PRODUCED SEVERAL TORNADOES WAS LOCATED OVER WESTERN WILBARGER COUNTY.3 MOVEMENT WAS EAST NORTHEAST AT 12 MPH. RESIDENTS IN THESE AREAS INCLUDING THE COMMUNITIES OF VERNON... CHILLICOTHE...MEDICENE MOUND...LOCKETT...ODELL AS WELL AS OTHER SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES SHOULD TAKE SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.
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 16, 10:35 PM CDT, 13 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 1035 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 1986 A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR STEPHENS AND PALO PINTO COUNTIES OF NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS UNTIL 230 AM TONIGHT. AT 1030 PM..WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED SCATTERED SHOWERS AND ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS OVER DENTON AND BETWEEN SHERMAN AND PARIS NEAR BONHAM. THE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR. ALTHOUGH NO THUNDERSTORMS WERE NEAR THE TORNADO WATCH AREA WEST OF FORT WORTH..CONDITIONS DO REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FOR THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS. RESIDENTS OF STEPHENS AND PALO PINTO COUNTY ARE URGED TO KEEP INFORMED OF DEVELOPING WEATHER IN YOUR AREA AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER IF THREATENING WEATHER DEVELOPES.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Fort Worth, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 16, 7:00 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FWD | Foard, Hardeman | 60 min |
| May 16, 8:00 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FWD | Foard, Hardeman | 60 min |
| May 16, 9:00 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FWD | Foard, Hardeman, Wilbarger | 60 min |
| May 16, 9:50 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FWD | Foard, Wilbarger | 60 min |
| May 16, 9:50 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FWD | Hardeman | 35 min |
| May 16, 11:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Wichita | 45 min |
| May 16, 11:20 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FWD | Wichita | 60 min |
| May 16, 11:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Clay | 60 min |
| May 17, 12:50 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Wichita | 30 min |
| May 17, 2:30 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Baylor | 60 min |
| May 17, 6:04 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Eastland, Stephens | 56 min |
| May 17, 6:39 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Palo Pinto, Stephens | 66 min |
| May 17, 9:10 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Bosque, Coryell | 2 hr |
| May 17, 9:15 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | FWD | Brown | 60 min |
| May 17, 9:52 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Hamilton | 38 min |
| May 17, 10:00 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Bosque, Hill | 3 hr |
| May 17, 10:20 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Smith | 3 hr |
| May 17, 10:45 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | FWD | Henderson | 3 hr |
| May 17, 11:05 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | FWD | McLennan | 55 min |
| May 17, 11:28 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Bell | 32 min |
| May 17, 11:55 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | FWD | Falls | 35 min |
| May 17, 12:04 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FWD | Limestone, Robertson | 56 min |
| May 17, 1:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Brazos | 55 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.