Alert archive / Oklahoma / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Amarillo, TX

March 22, 1987Beaver County, Oklahoma

NWS Amarillo, TX issued this tornado warning at Mar 22, 1987, 8:10 PM CST for Beaver County, Oklahoma. It was in force for 50 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 22, 1987, 8:10 PM CST (02:10 UTC)
Expired
Mar 22, 1987, 9:00 PM CST
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Amarillo, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Beaver County, OK

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

Dodge City, (KDDC), launched 00:00Z, 2.2 hours before the alert went out and 124 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, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 1987-03-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 603 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, Dodge City, at 00:00Z on 1987-03-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 144 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
603 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-21 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1151 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
144 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
215 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.5
Supercell composite
4.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KOKC 230213
TORAMA
OKC007-230300-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
ISSUED BY OKLAHOMA CITY OK
810 PM CST SUN MAR 22 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 900 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY

IN THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE...BEAVER

AT 755 PM THE TEXAS DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY REPORTED A TORNADO ON
THE GROUND 4 MILES NORTH OF BOOKER TX NEAR THE OKLAHOMA..TEXAS STATE
LINE.  THIS TORNADO IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM TAKE IMMEDIATE COVER.

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, Mar 22, 2:27 PM CST, 5 hours 43 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
 228 PM CST SUN MAR 22 1987

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 40 IN EFFECT FROM 230 PM CST
UNTIL 800 PM CST FOR THE GRAY...HEMPHILL...LIPSCOMB...OCHILTREE...
ROBERTS...AND WHEELER COUNTIES OF THE NORTHEAST TEXAS PANHANDLE...
AND BEAVER COUNTY OF THE EAST OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE...

AT 225 PM CST AMARILLO RADAR INDICATED SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDER
STORMS DEVELOPING IN THE NORTHEAST TEXAS PANHANDLE BETWEEN PERRYTON
TEXAS AND GUYMON OKLAHOMA. MOVEMENT WAS NORTH AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND LISTEN FOR LATER
STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, Mar 22, 5:49 PM CST, 2 hours 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
545 PM CST SUN MAR 22 1987

...TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 41 IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 11 PM CST FOR ARMSTRONG..
CHILDRESS..COLLINGSWORTH..DONLEY..GRAY..HALL AND WHEELER OF THE
SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS PANHANDLE.
...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 40 IN UNTIL 800 PM CST FOR
GRAY...HEMPHILL...LIPSCOMB...OCHILTREE...
ROBERTS...AND WHEELER COUNTIES OF THE NORTHEAST TEXAS PANHANDLE...
AND BEAVER COUNTY OF THE EASTERN OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE...

AT 540 PM CST...VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED FROM NORTH OF
LIPSCOMB TO SOUTH OF CANADIAN IN THE NORTHEASTERN TEXAS PANHANDLE.
ELSEWHERE...SCATTERED SHOWERS WERE LOCATED FROM GUYMON OKLAHOMA4 TO
DALHART TEXAS AND TO NORTHEAST OF TUCUMCARI NEW MEXICO.
MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND LISTEN FOR LATER
STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Oklahoma, 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.