Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 16, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

June 1, 1986Andrews County, Gaines County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 1, 1986, 6:35 PM CDT for Andrews County, Gaines County, Texas. It was in force for 55 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 1, 1986, 6:35 PM CDT (23:35 UTC)
Expired
Jun 1, 1986, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Andrews 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, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 76 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 1986-06-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 47 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 1986-06-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 15 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
47 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-61 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1189 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
15 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
41 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 
TTAAOO KMAF 012335
TORMAF
TXC003-165-020030-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
635 PM CDT SUN JUN  1 1986
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES:
 
IN NORTHWEST TEXAS
          ..ANDREWS..GAINES

AT 635 PM CDT RADAR SHOWED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 5 MILES WEST OF
SEMINOLE TEXAS AND ANOTHER POSSIBLE TORNADO 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF
ANDREWS TEXAS..BOTH MOVING EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE IN
THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE, GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

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 1, 5:39 PM CDT, 56 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
538 PM CDT SUN JUNE 1 1986

...FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR SOUTHWEST TEXAS TONIGHT INCLUDING MIDLAND AND
ECTOR COUNTIES...

AT 525 PM CDT...A 250 MILE WIDE AREA OF VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WAS
LOCATED FROM 50 MILES NORTHEAST OF SNYDER TO 15 MILES WEST OF PRESIDIO
TEXAS. THE HEAVIEST ACTIVITY WAS JUST NORTH OF ANDREWS. MOVEMENT WAS
EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

THE HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS COULD ALSO PRODUCE LIGHTNING..STRONG GUSTY WINDS
AND CAUSE LOCAL FLOODING IN RAIN SATURATED AREAS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO..LOCAL RADIO OR TV FOR LATEST DETAILS
AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 31, 8:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFAndrews63 min
Jun 1, 1:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFAndrews66 min
Jun 1, 2:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFMartin57 min
Jun 1, 3:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFHoward, Martin59 min
Jun 1, 3:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFHoward, Martin61 min
Jun 1, 5:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFAndrews, Martin60 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.