Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

June 1, 1986Andrews County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 1, 1986, 7:20 PM CDT for Andrews County, Texas. It was in force for 55 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 1, 1986, 7:20 PM CDT (00:20 UTC)
Expired
Jun 1, 1986, 8:15 PM CDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Andrews 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 00:00Z, 0.3 hours before the alert went out and 57 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 00:00Z on 1986-06-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 947 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 00:00Z on 1986-06-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 28 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
947 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1533 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
73 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 
TTAAOO KMAF 020020
TORMAF
TXC003-115-020115-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
720 PM CDT SUN JUN  1 1986
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  815 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES:
 
IN NORTHWEST TEXAS
          ..NORTHEASTERN ANDREWS..DAWSON

AT 720 PM CDT RADAR CONTINUED TO SHOW A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN NORTHEAST
ANDREWS COUNTY ABOUT 20 MILES NORTHEAST OF ANDREWS TEXAS MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR TOWARD SOUTHWEST DAWSON COUNTY.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE, SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT, SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT, DITCH OR
LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

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, 1 hour 41 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
Jun 1, 7:05 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFMartin55 min
Jun 1, 7:20 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFDawson55 min
Jun 1, 7:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFMartin64 min
Jun 1, 8:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFHoward55 min
Jun 1, 8:47 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFHoward58 min
Jun 2, 2:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFMartin61 min
Jun 2, 6:07 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMAFUpton4 hr

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.