Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 20, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

June 18, 1986Martin County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 18, 1986, 12:15 PM CDT for Martin County, Texas. It was in force for 60 min. 2 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Jun 18, 1986, 12:15 PM CDT (17:15 UTC)
Expired
Jun 18, 1986, 1:15 PM CDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Martin County, TX

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 18, 12:21 PM CDTTornado F0Martin, TX
Jun 18, 12:33 PM CDTTornado F0Martin, TX

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 12:00Z, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 46 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 1986-06-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 762 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 1986-06-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 8 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
762 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
569 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
45 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 181724 RRA
TORMAF
TXC317-181815-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
1215 PM CDT WED JUN 18 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  115 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES:

IN NORTHWEST TEXAS
          ..SOUTHEASTERN MARTIN

AT 1213 CDT A TORNADO HAS BEEN SIGHTED 10 MILES NORTH OF STANTON
MOVING SLOWLY TO THE SOUTHEAST.
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE, SEEK SHELTER I~N 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 18, 6:39 AM CDT, 5 hours 36 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
635 AM CDT WED JUN 18 1986

...THUNDERSTORMS AND HEAVY RAIN IN PERMIAN BASIN...

AT 625 AM CDT..THUNDERSTORMS..SOME WITH HEAVY RAIN WERE SCATTERED FROM
WEST OF LUBBOCK TO NEAR OZONA MOVING SOUTH.

OVER ONE HALF INCH OF RAIN HAS FALLEN AT MIDLAND REGIONAL AIRPORT DURING
THE LAST HOUR. THESE BRIEF HEAVY RAINS WILL CAUSE SOME FLOODING OF LOW
LYING AREAS THROUGHOUT THE PERMIAN BASIN THIS MORNING.

MOTORISTS ARE URGED TO USE CAUTION WHEN DRIVING IN AREAS THAT ARE
FLOOD PRONE. REMEMBER IT IS DIFFICULT TO TELL HOW DEEP THE WATER IN
LOW LYING AREAS ACTUALLY IS. IF POSSIBLE LEAVE EARLY FOR WORK THIS
MORNINHG ALLOWING PLENTY OF TIME TO REACH YOUR DESTINATION.
Local storm report, Jun 18, 9:43 AM CDT, 2 hours 32 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORTS...UPDATED.
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
940 AM CDT WEDNESDAY JUNE 18,1986

DELAYED STORM REPORTS FOR MONDAY 16, 1986

TIME(CDT)     COUNTY     EVENT

728 PM        ANDREWS    ANDREWS REPORTED PEA TO MARBLE SIZE HAIL. WALL
                         OF DUST MOVING IN FROM THE NORTH. HEAVY RAINFALL.
756 PM        MIDLAND    61 MPH WIND GUST AT MIDLAND WSO. CESSNA 172
                         FLIPPED OVER AND DAMAGED. AIRPORT SAID THE 172
                         WAS TIED DOWN.
811 PM        WARD       MARBLE SIZE HAIL AT PYOTE.
                         PEA SIZE HAIL AT MONAHANS WITH HEAVY RAIN.
820 PM        ECTOR      WINDS 60 MPH REPORTED BY ODESSA FIRE DEPARTMENT.
945 PM        CRANE      WINDS 60 MPH REPORTED BY CRANE SHERIFF DEPARTMENT.
                         POWER LINES DOWN.
                         CRANE CIVIL DEFENSE DIRECTOR REPORTED MARBLE SIZE
                         HAIL, WINDS 55 MPH AND 1.7" RAIN IN 45 MINUTES.
                         TESCO REPORTED EIGHT TELEPHONE POLES
                         DOWN 8 MILES SOUTH OF PENWELL.
Special weather statement, Jun 18, 10:43 AM CDT, 1 hour 32 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
1035 AM CDT WED JUN 18 1986

...HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS OVER PERMIAN BASIN...

AT 1026 AM CDT AN AREA OF SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS..SOME HEAVY..CONTINUED
OVER THE NORTHERN PERMIAN BASIN AND SOUTH PLAINS EXTENDING EAST INTO THE
BIG COUNTRY AND SOUTHEAST INTO THE CONCHO VALLEY. MOVEMENT WAS SOUTH AT
10 MILES AN HOUR.

AS THE WESTERN SOUTH PLAINS AND NORTHERN PERMIAN BASIN HAS HAD CONSIDER-
ABLE RAINFALL THIS MORNING..OVER AN INCH AN A HALF IN SOME PLACES..
ADDITIONAL LOCAL RAINFALL TOTALS MAY CAUSE STREET AND LOW WATER CROSSING
FLOODING. MOTORISTS ARE URGED TO EXERCISE CAUTION.

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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.