Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Lubbock, TX

May 25, 1986Lubbock County, Texas

NWS Lubbock, TX issued this tornado warning at May 25, 1986, 7:05 PM CDT for Lubbock County, Texas. It was in force for 25 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 25, 1986, 7:05 PM CDT (00:05 UTC)
Expired
May 25, 1986, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
25 min
Issued by
NWS Lubbock, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Lubbock County, TX

The radar

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

The nearest sounding before it

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 180 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 1986-05-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 167 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 1986-05-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 126 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
167 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
637 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
126 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
214 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLBB 260007
TORLBB
TXC303-260030-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
705 PM CDT SUN MAY 25 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS EXTENDED A TORNADO WARNING
UNTIL 730 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

WEST TEXAS...LUBBOCK

BETWEEN 645 PM AND 700 PM CDT SEVERAL REPORTS OF SMALL..SHORT
LIVED..LOW-ENERGY FUNNEL CLOUDS HAVE BEEN RECEIVED OVER PARTS
OF LUBBOCK COUNTY. THE MOST RECENT REPORTS HAVE BEEN NEAR
REESE AIR FORCE BASE.

ALTHOUGH THESE ARE LOW-ENERGY TYPE FUNNEL CLOUDS..THEY CAN
BRIEFLY TOUCH DOWN..CAUSING DAMAGE AND INJURY.

AT 635 PM CDT THERE WAS AN UNCOMFIRMED REPORT OF A SMALL..WEAK
AND SH:ORT LIVED TORNADO AT THE IDALOU AIRPORT. NO REPORTS OF DAMAGE
OR INJURIES.

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 25, 4:33 PM CDT, 2 hours 32 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
425 PM CDT SUN MAY 25 1986

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

AT 425 PM CDT VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED JUST NORTH OF THE
HALE AND FLOYD COUNTY LINES. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST
AT 20 MPH. OTHER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURRING ACROSS THE
WESTERN AND SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE TEXAS SOUTH PLAINS. MOST OF THE
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED IN BAILEY..COCHRAN..HOCKLEY..
YOAKUM AND TERRY COUNTIES. WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS WERE LOCATED IN
LYNN AND GARZA COUNTIES ALSO.

NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED WITH ANY OF THESE STORMS..BUT..
THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAIN..SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS IS PRESENT.

LISTEN  TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND LOCAL RADIO OR TELEVISION STATIONS
FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, May 25, 5:20 PM CDT, 1 hour 45 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
520 PM CDT SUN MAY 25 1986

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

AT 517 PM STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAD MOVED INTO THE NORTHERN PORTIONS OF
HALE AND LAMB COUNTIES. THE STRONGEST STORMS WERE JUST NORTH AND WEST
OF PLAINVIEW. THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED IN FLOYD AND HOCKLEY COUNTIES.

NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED WITH ANY OF THESE STORMS..BUT..
THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY RAIN..SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS IS PRESENT.
THE WEATHER CAN TURN SEVERE VERY QUICKLY WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS.

LISTEN TO NOAA W"EATHER RADIO AND LOCAL RADIO OR TELEVISION STATIONS
FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, May 25, 5:58 PM CDT, 1 hour 7 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
557 PM CDT SUN MAY 25 1986

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

AT 555 PM SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE WIDESPREAD OVER THE NORTHERN
COUNTIES OF THE SOUTH PLAINS. STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED NORTH
OF MULESHOE..ABOUT MIDWAY BETWEEN LITTLEFIELD AND PLAINVIEW AND ALSO
NORTH OF PADUCAH. THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG WIND WAS REPORTED IN THE COMMUNITY OF EDMONSON IN
NORTHERN HALE COUNTY AT 515 PM. HEAVY RAIN FELL IN PLAINVIEW AT 520 PM.

NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN REPORTED WITH ANY OF THESE STORMS..BUT..
THERE IS POTENTIAL FOR LARGE HAIL..STRONG WIND..FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND
VERY HEAVY RAIN ON THE SOUTH PLAINS THIS EVENING.

KEEP LISTENING 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.