Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Lubbock, TX

June 4, 1986Hale County, Texas

NWS Lubbock, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 4, 1986, 3:20 PM CDT for Hale County, Texas. It was in force for 55 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 4, 1986, 3:20 PM CDT (20:20 UTC)
Expired
Jun 4, 1986, 4:15 PM CDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Lubbock, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Hale 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

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 12:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 238 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 1986-06-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 95 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 1986-06-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 64 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
95 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-186 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1211 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
49 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 KLBB 042023
TORLBB
TXC189-042115-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
320 PM CDT WED JUN 4 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 415 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

WEST TEXAS...HALE

AT 315 PM RADAR WAS SHOWING A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5 MILES
SOUTHEAST OF HALE CENTER. LARGE HAIL WAS BEING INDICATED.

THE CIVIL DEFENSE IN PLAINVIEW REPORTED POSSIBLE FUNNEL CLOUDS
SOUTHWEST OF PLAINVIEW. RESIDENTS OF HALE COUNTY SHOULD
PREPARE FOR SEVERE WEATHER..INCLUDING TORNADOES AND LARGE HAIL..
DURING THE NEXT HOUR.

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, Jun 4, 11:18 AM CDT, 4 hours 2 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
1110 AM CDT WED JUN 4 1986

    ...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR THE CONCHO VALLEY THIS AFTERNOON...

A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS STILL IN EFFECT TODAY FOR THE CONCHO VALLEY.
THE WATCH AREA EXTENDS SOUTHEAST OF A LINE FROM ROBERT LEE AND
STERLING CITY TO BARNHART AND SHEFFIELD. THIS INCLUDES SAN ANGELO.

SCATTTERED HEAVY RAINS OVER THE PAST SEVERAL DAYS HAVE LEFT
THE GROUND SATURATED..AND ATMOSPHERIC CONDITIONS ONCE AGAIN
FAVOR DEVELOPMENT OF THUNDERSTORMS CAPABLE OF VERY HEAVY RAIN.
SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL TODAY COULD RESULT IN RAPID RUNOFF..SO THOSE
AREAS NORMALLY PRONE TO FLASH FLOODING WILL BE ESPECIALLY HAZARDOUS
TODAY.

RESIDENTS IN THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH AREA ARE ADVISED TO KEEP UP ON THE
LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.  TUNE IN TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO ROUTINELY
FOR UPDATES..BE READY TO SEEK HIGH GROUND IMMEDIATELY SHOULD A WARNING
BE ISSUED. ABOVE ALL..DO NOT ATTEMPT TO DR<IVE THROUGH FLOODED LOW WATER
CROSSINGS.
Special weather statement, Jun 4, 12:59 PM CDT, 2 hours 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
1258 PM CDT WED JUN 4 1986

...INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS IN THE NORTHWESTERN PART OF THE SOUTH PLAINS...

AT 1255 PM INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN LAMB AND WESTERN HALE COUNTIES
OF THE TEXAS SOUTH PLAINS. THE STRONGEST STORM WAS ALONG THE LAMB AND
HALE COUNTY LINE..15 MILES WEST OF HALE CENTER. THERE WERE INDICATIONS
THAT HAIL WAS FALLING FROM THESE STORMS AT TIMES.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE RAPIDLY DEVELOPING ACROSS THE WESTERN HALF
OF THE SOUTH PLAINS..WHILE AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WAS
CONTINUING ACROSS THE EASTERN THIRD OF THE SOUTH PLAINS. ALL THUNDER-
STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

THUNDERSTORMS HAVE THE POTENTIAL FOR VERY HEAVY RAINFALL TODAY..THOSE
AREAS THAT HAVE ALREADY RECEIVED SOAKING RAINS CAN EXPECT PROBLEMS
WITH PONDING OR STREET FLOODING. THERE IS ALSO POTENTIAL FOR HAIL
AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS AT TIMES WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS.

KEEP LISTENING FOR LATER STATEMENTS AS THE AFTERNOON PROGRESSES.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 4, 1:49 PM CDTTornado WarningLUBBailey56 min
Jun 4, 2:48 PM CDTTornado WarningLUBBailey57 min
Jun 4, 4:33 PM CDTTornado WarningLUBCrosby, Floyd57 min
Jun 4, 5:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBLubbock60 min
Jun 4, 5:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBDickens69 min
Jun 4, 6:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBGarza, Lynn64 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.