Alert archive / New Mexico / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 31, NWS Amarillo, TX

June 29, 1987Curry County, New Mexico

NWS Amarillo, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 29, 1987, 7:40 PM MDT for Curry County, New Mexico. It was in force for 5 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 29, 1987, 7:40 PM MDT (01:40 UTC)
Expired
Jun 29, 1987, 7:45 PM MDT
In force
5 min
Issued by
NWS Amarillo, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Curry County, NM

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, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 167 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 1987-06-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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 1987-06-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 67 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
NaN m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
67 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
249 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 300140
TORAMA
NMC009-300245-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
840 PM CDT MON JUN 29 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 845 PM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN EAST CENTRAL NEW MEXICO
          ...NORTHERN CURRY
 
AT 840 PM CDT AMARILLO RADAR INDICTED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST
INTERING NORTH CURRY COUNTY. TUCUMCARI SHERIFF REPORTED SEVERAL
FUNNEL CLOUDS WITH THIS STORM WHEN IS PASSED SAN JON.
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.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW HSPOT 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 29, 4:49 PM MDT, 2 hours 51 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
 545 PM CDT MON JUN 29 1987
 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 285 IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM CDT
FOR ALL OF THE TEXAS PANHANDLE EXCEPT DALLAM...HARTLEY...OLDHAM...AND
PARMER COUNTIES OF THE WEST PANHANDLE...AND CIMARRON COUNTY OF THE WEST
OKLKAHOMA PANHANDLE...

AT 533 PM CDT AMARILLO RADAR INDICATED A LINE OF VERY STRONG THUNDER
STORMS EXTENDING FROM NEAR GAGE OKLAHOMA...SOUTHWEST ACROSS CANADIAN
AND PAMPA TEXAS TO JUST NORTH OF AMARILLO...THEN SOUTH TO CANYON.
STRONGEST PORTION OF THE LINE WAS BETWEEN PAMPA AND CANADIAN...AND
JUST SOUTH OF CANYON. MOVEMENT WAS SOUTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

RESIDENTS ALONG AND JUST SOUTH OF THIS LINE CAN EXPECT STRONG GUSTY
WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...BRIEF FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS...
AND POSSIBLE HAIL DURING ITS PASSAGE.

PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND MOVE TO A PLACE OF
SAFTEY IF THREATENING CONDITIONS ARE SIGHTED. STAY TUNED TO RADIO..TV
OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, Jun 29, 6:42 PM MDT, 58 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
740 PM CDT MON JUN 29 1987
 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 285 IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM CDT
FOR ALL OF THE TEXAS PANHANDLE EXCEPT DALLAM...HARTLEY...OLDHAM...AND
PARMER COUNTIES OF THE WEST PANHANDLE...AND CIMARRON COUNTY OF THE WEST
OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT FOR TEXAS AND BEAVER
COUNTIES OF THE OKLAHOMA...

AT 730 PM CDT AMARILLO RADAR INDICATED SCATTERED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL IN THE EAST TEXAS PANHANDLE BETWEEN SHAMROCK
AND CANADIAN. STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS JUST EAST OF WHEELER...MOVING
SOUTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

ELSEWHERE...SCATTERED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING IN NORTHEAST
NEW MEXICO BETWEEN TUCUMCARI AND CLAYTON. STORNGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS
JUST NORTH OF TUCUMCARI...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND MOVE TO A PLACE OF
SAFTEY IF THREATENING CONDITIONS ARE SIGHTED. STAY TUNED TO RADIO..TV
Special weather statement, Jun 29, 6:49 PM MDT, 51 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AMARILLO TX
745 PM CDT MON JUN 29 1987
 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 285 IN EFFECT UNTIL 1000 PM CDT
FOR ALL OF THE TEXAS PANHANDLE EXCEPT DALLAM...HARTLEY...OLDHAM...AND
PARMER COUNTIES OF THE WEST TEXAS PANHANDLE...AND CIMARRON COUNTY OF THE
WEST OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE...FLASH FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT FOR TEXAS AND BEAVER
COUNTIES OF THE OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE...

AT 730 PM CDT AMARILLO RADAR INDICATED SCATTERED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS
IN THE EAST TEXAS PANHANDLE BETWEEN SHAMROCK AND CANADIAN. STRONGEST
THUNDERSTORM WAS JUST EAST OF WHEELER...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MILES
AN HOUR.

ELSEWHERE...SCATTERE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE DEVELOPING IN NORTHEAST
NEW MEXICO BETWEEN TUCUMCARI AND CLAYTON. STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS JUST
NORTH OF TUCUMCARI...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND MOVE TO A PLACE OF
SEFETY IF THREATENING CONDITIONS ARE SIGHTED.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 29, 6:43 PM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningAMAQuay2 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in New Mexico, 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.