Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 26, NWS Amarillo, TX

May 29, 1987Castro County, Swisher County, Texas

NWS Amarillo, TX issued this tornado warning at May 29, 1987, 10:46 PM CDT for Castro County, Swisher County, Texas. It was in force for 59 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 29, 1987, 10:46 PM CDT (03:46 UTC)
Expired
May 29, 1987, 11:45 PM CDT
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Amarillo, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Castro County, TX, Swisher 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

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 00:00Z, 3.8 hours before the alert went out and 82 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 1987-05-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1438 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 1987-05-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 24 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
1438 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1469 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
60 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 
TTAA00 KAMA 300346
TORAMA
TXC069-437-300445-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
1046 PM CDT FRI MAY 29 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1145 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN THE TEXAS PANHANDLE
          ...CASTRO...SWISHER
 
AT 1042PM CDT THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SATETY REPORTED A TORNADO AT
HIGHWAY 86...7 MILES EAST OF DIMMITT. THIS STORM WAS MOVING EAST
SOUTHEAST AT 10 MPH.
 
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON #THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

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, 6:50 PM CDT, 3 hours 56 minutes before
TTAASP KAMA 292350
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
645 PM CDT FRI MAY 29 1987

  ...TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE CENTRAL
     AND SOUTHERN TEXAS PANHANDLE UNTIL 11 PM TONIGHT ...

AT 635 PM CDT ...RADAR WAS DETECTING VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS FROM
SOUTHWEST OF BUFFALO LAKE TO NORTHEAST OF FRIONA MOVING EAST NORTHEAST
AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.
ELSEWHERE...THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING FROM WEST OF AMARILLO TO
NORTH OF AMARILLO WERE RAIN AND PEA SIZE HAIL WAS REPORTED.

AT 615 PM THE HEREFORD FIRE DEPT. WAS REPORTING PEA TO MARBLE SIZE HAIL
WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS UP TO 30 MPH.

KEEP TUNED TO YOUR NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL RADIO AND T V$ STATION
FOR LATER STAEMENTS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Amarillo, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 29, 7:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMARandall58 min
May 29, 7:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMACastro, Parmer61 min
May 29, 8:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMARandall64 min
May 29, 8:45 PM CDTTornado WarningAMACastro60 min
May 29, 9:46 PM CDTTornado WarningAMACastro, Randall, Swisher59 min
May 29, 10:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAArmstrong, Donley68 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1987Every tornado warning in 1987Tornadoes in 1987

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.