Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

May 31, 1986Upton County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1986, 4:04 PM CDT for Upton County, Texas. It was in force for 56 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 31, 1986, 4:04 PM CDT (21:04 UTC)
Expired
May 31, 1986, 5:00 PM CDT
In force
56 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Upton 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, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 66 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 1986-05-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1986-05-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 25 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
590 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
25 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
54 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 31, 10:38 AM CDT, 5 hours 26 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
1040 AM CDT SAT MAY 31 1986

...HEAVY RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS...

AT 1030 AM CDT...VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE ENCLOSED WITHIN A 55 MILE
WIDE AREA FROM 20 MILES SOUTH OF RANKIN TO 10 MILES SOUTH OF ANDREWS.

VERY HEAVY RAINFALL WAS LOCATED AT MCCAMEY AND 10 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
MCCAMEY. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

OTHER SHOWERS WERE SCATTERED IN THE SONORA AREA. MOVEMENT OF THIS
PRECIPITATION WAS UNDETERMINED.

THIS RAIN HAS PERSISTED FOR SOMETIME NOW IN THIS AREA AND FLOODING OF
LOW LYING AREAS CAN BE EXPECTED AND PERSONS IN AND AROUND THESE AREAS
SHOU=LD REMAIN ALERT AND SEEK HIGHER GROUND IF IN A FLOOD PRONE AREA.
Special weather statement, May 31, 11:43 AM CDT, 4 hours 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
1135 AM CDT SAT MAY 31 1986

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE PERMIAN BASIN..CONCHO VALLEY
   AND THE BIG BEND FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...

AT 1130 AM CDT...RAINSHOWERS..SOME HEAVY..WERE ENCLOSED WITHIN A 110
MILE WIDE AREA FROM 10 MILE SOUTH OF MENTONE TO 30 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
SAN ANGELO.

HEAVIEST RAIN WAS LOCATED 15 MILES SOUTHEAST OF RANKIN.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

RAIN IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS THE PAST FEW DAYS HAS SATURATED MOST OF THE
AREA AND WITH ADDITIONAL RAINFALL EXPECTED PERSONS IN AND AROUND
LOW LYING AREAS WILL BE SUBJECT TO FLOODING AND SHOULD EXERCIkSE CAUTION..
ESPECIALLY AT WATER CROSSINGS.
Special weather statement, May 31, 12:31 PM CDT, 3 hours 33 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
1230 PM CDT SAT MAY 31 1986

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE PERMIAN BASIN..CONCHO VALLEY
   AND THE BIG BEND FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...

AT 1225 PM CDT...RAINSHOWERS..SOME HEAVY..WERE SCATTERED FROM NEAR
DRYDEN TO SOUTHEAST OF PECOS..AND FROM ROBERT LEE TO CROSBYTON TO WEST
OF LEVELLAND.

HEAVIEST RAIN WAS LOCATED 25 MILES SOUTHEAST OF FORT STOCKTON..AND 25
MILES EAST OF LUBBOCK.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

RAIN IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS THE PAST FEW DAYS HAS SATURATED MOST OF THE
AREA AND WITH ADDITIONAL RAINFALL EXPECTED PERSONS IN AND AROUND
LOW LYING AREAS WILL BE SUBJECT TO FLOODING AND SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION..
ESPECIALLY AT WATER CROSSINGS.
Special weather statement, May 31, 1:31 PM CDT, 2 hours 33 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
130 PM CDT SAT MAY 31 1986

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE PERMIAN BASIN..CONCHO VALLEY
   AND THE BIG BEND FOR THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT...

AT 125 PM CDT...THUNDERSTORMS ARE BUILDING IN SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO THE
CONCHO VALLEY THE BIG BEND REGION AND ALSO THE PERMAIN BASIN. SOME OF
THE HEAVIEST STORMS WERE NORTH OF FORT DAVIS AND SOUTH OF GARDEN CITY.
THESE STORMS CAN PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAINFALL IN A VERY SHORT TIME.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

RAIN IN WEST TEXAS THE PAST FEW DAYS HAS SATURATED MOST OF THE AREA AND
WITH ADDITIONAL RAINFALL EXPECTED PERSONS IN AND AROUND LOW LYING AREAS
WILL BE SUBJECT TO FLOODING AND SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 31, 3:59 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFCrane, Pecos61 min
May 31, 4:04 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFPecos56 min
May 31, 4:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFCrane, Upton62 min
May 31, 5:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFUpton66 min
May 31, 6:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFWinkler61 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.