Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Lubbock, TX

May 24, 1986Yoakum County, Texas

NWS Lubbock, TX issued this tornado warning at May 24, 1986, 6:53 PM CDT for Yoakum County, Texas. It was in force for 67 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 24, 1986, 6:53 PM CDT (23:53 UTC)
Expired
May 24, 1986, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
67 min
Issued by
NWS Lubbock, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Yoakum 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 24, 7:17 PM CDTHail 1.75Yoakum, 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

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 148 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, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 1986-05-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2343 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, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 1986-05-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 93 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
2343 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-181 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
928 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
93 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
107 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLBB 242354
TORLBB
TXC501-250100-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
653 PM CDT SAT MAY 24 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 800 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

NORTHWEST TEXAS...YOAKUM

AT 652 PM RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN SOUTHEAST
YOAKUM COUNTY..ABOUT 8 MILES SOUTHEAST OF PLAINS.

THIS STORM IS ACCOMPANIED BY INTENSE LIGHTNING AND STRONG GUSTY
WINDS.

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 24, 5:50 PM CDT, 1 hour 3 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
550 PM CDT SAT MAY 24 1986

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF THE TEXAS SOUTH PLAINS
UNTIL 1100 PM CDT...

...THUNDERSTORMS RAPIDLY INCREASING IN THE WESTERN SOUTH PLAINS...

AT 545 PM CDT THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE NEAR THE TEXAS-NEW MEXICO
BORDER. ONE WAS 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF PLAINS..OTHERS WERE JUST WEST OF
MORTON. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.

HAIL WAS INDICATED WITH SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE POSSIBLE
ON THE SOUTH PLAINS THIS EVENING. ALSO..EXPECT BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND
FREQUENT LIGHTNING WITH ANY THUNDE_RSTORMS.

KEEP INFORMED..LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, May 24, 6:43 PM CDT, 10 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
643 PM CDT SAT MAY 24 1986

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF THE TEXAS SOUTH PLAINS
UNTIL 1100 PM CDT...

AT 640 PM CDT STRONG THUNDERSTORMS..AT TIMES WITH HAIL..WERE LOCATED NEAR
AND EAST OF BROWNFIELD IN TERRY COUNTY. ANOTHER WAS IN CENTRAL YOAKUM
COUNTY NEAR PLAINS..AND ANOTHER JUST NORTH OF LITTLEFIELD IN LAMB COUNTY.
OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE WIDESPREAD IN THE WESTERN SOUTH PLAINS. ALL STORMS
WERE MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

PEA SIZED HAIL FELL JUST WEST OF PLAINS AT 620 PM. NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS
BEEN REPORTED YET THIS EVENING. HOWEVER..SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE
HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE POSSIBLE ON THE SOUTH PLAINS THIS EVENING. ANY
OF THE THUNDERSTORMS CAN PRODUCE FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.

LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

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.