Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 12, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

May 29, 1986Dawson County, Gaines County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at May 29, 1986, 6:16 PM CDT for Dawson County, Gaines County, Texas. It was in force for 33 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 29, 1986, 6:16 PM CDT (23:16 UTC)
Expired
May 29, 1986, 6:49 PM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Dawson County, TX, Gaines 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, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 88 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 1986-05-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 676 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 1986-05-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 4 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
676 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-73 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
774 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
57 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMAF 292318 COR
TORMAF
TXC165-115-300015-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
616 PM CDT THU MAY 29 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 715 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

NORTHWEST TEXAS...EASTERN GAINES AND SOUTHWEST DAWSON

AT 613PM, RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN SOUTHEAST
GAINES COUNTY MOVING EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR TOWARD SOUTHWEST
DAWSON COUNTY.

 THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY !

 THIS STORM IS ACCOMPANIED BY INTENSE LIGHTNING AND STRONG GUSTY
 WINDS.
 IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES YOU SHOULD GO TO A SAFE PLACE
. IMMEDIATELY...AND YOU SHOULD ASK THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
 TO RELAY YOUR SEVERE WEATHER REPORTS TO THE LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER
 SERVICE OFFICE.

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 29, 2:45 PM CDT, 3 hours 31 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
240 PM CDT THU MAY 29 1986

...VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTH PLAINS...

AT 230 PM CDT VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURING 20 MILES EAST AND
10 MILES NORTHWEST OF SNYDER..15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LUBBOCK..VICINITY
OF TATUM NEW MEXICO..AND 5 MILES WEST OF BALMORHEA.
ELSEWHERE...WIDELY SCATTERED RAINSHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE
OCCURING OVER WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

CONDITIONS LOOK FAVORABLE FOR FURTHER STRENGTHENING OF THESE STORMS.
STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL RADIO/TV FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS
OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, May 29, 3:44 PM CDT, 2 hours 32 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
340 PM CDT THU MAY 29 1986

...VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTH PLAINS...

AT 330 PM CDT VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE OCCURING FROM 25 MILES NORTH
TO 25 MILES EAST OF SNYDER..15 MILES SOUTH OF LUBBOCK..10 MILES SOUTH TO
20 MILES EAST OF TATUM NEW MEXICO..AND 40 MILES SOUTHWEST OF PECOS.
ELSEWHERE...WIDELY SCATTERED RAINSHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE
OCCURING OVER WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

CONDITIONS LOOK FAVORABLE FOR FURTHER STRENGTHENING OF THESE STORMS.
STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL RADIO/TV FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS
OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 29, 4:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFGaines60 min
May 29, 4:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFGaines61 min
May 29, 5:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFGaines58 min
May 29, 5:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFDawson, Gaines55 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.