Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Brownsville, TX

June 14, 1987Hidalgo County, Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 14, 1987, 5:47 PM CDT for Hidalgo County, Texas. It was in force for 58 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 14, 1987, 5:47 PM CDT (22:47 UTC)
Expired
Jun 14, 1987, 6:45 PM CDT
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Brownsville, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Hidalgo 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

Brownsville Intl, TX (KBRO), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 96 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, Brownsville Intl, TX at 12:00Z on 1987-06-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1624 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, Brownsville Intl, TX at 12:00Z on 1987-06-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 56 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
1624 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-37 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
641 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
56 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
69 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 KBRO 142247 RRA
TORBRO
TXC215-142345-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
547 PM CDT SUN JUN 14 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 645 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

EXTREME SOUTH TEXAS...SOUTHERN HIDALGO

AT 544 PM CDT...A TORNADO WAS SIGHTED 3 MILES NORTHWEST OF THE
MCALLEN AIRPORT MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST. THE TORNADO WAS ON THE
GROUND FOR 3 TO 4 MINUTES BEFORE IT LIFTED BACK INTO THE CLOUD.
BROWNSVILLE RADAR SHOWS VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS NEAR MCALLEN
TEXAS AND EXTENDING TO NEAR SAN BENITO...MOVING TO THE SOUTH AT
10 MPH.

FREQUENT LIGHTNING..STRONG DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL WILL
LIKELY ACCOMPANY THIS STORM.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM..GO TO A BASEMENT SHELTER
OR A CENTRAL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR
BUILDING.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING.

YOU SHOULD ASK THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO RELAY YOUR
SEVERE WEATHER REPORTS TO THE LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
OFFICE.

PLEASE LISTEN TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO..TV OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO STATION
FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS REGARDING THIS SEVERE WEATHER
EVENT.

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 14, 2:51 PM CDT, 2 hours 56 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
250 PM CDT SUN JUN 14 1987

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTHEAST CAMERON COUNTY...

AT 235 PM CDT...BROWNSVILLE WEATHER RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS...WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...IN SOUTHEAST CAMERON COUNTY...
FROM NEAR PORT ISABEL TO  NEAR LOS FRESNOS AND BROWNSVILLE. THE AREA
OF THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED INTO MEXICO FOR 50 TO 100 MILES SOUTHEAST
OF BROWNSVILLE. MOVEMENT WAS SLOWLY TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 5 MPH.

SOUTH PADRE ISLAND REPORTED OVER AN INCH AND ONE THIRD...1.36...FROM
THE THUNDERSTORM THIS AFTERNOON. STREET FLOODING WAS REPORTED IN PORT
ISABEL AND MINOR STREET FLOODING AT SOUTH PADRE ISLAND. HEAVY RAINS...
GUSTY WINDS...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE
THUNDERSTORMS. MARINE INTERESTS OFF THE EXTREME LOWER TEXAS COAST SHOULD
SEEK SAFE HARBOR.

ELSEWHERE...WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSHOWERS WERE DEVELOPING ALONG THE
COASTAL AREAS FROM SOUTH OF BAFFIN BAY TO RIO HONDO. OTHERS WERE IN
DEEP SOUTH TEXAS BETWEEN FALFURRIAS AND HEBBRONVILLE. MOVEMENT WAS ALSO
SOUTHEST AT 5 MPH.
Special weather statement, Jun 14, 3:28 PM CDT, 2 hours 19 minutes before
BULLETIN
URBAN FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
325 PM CDT SUN JUN 14 1987

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DUMPING VERY HEAVY RAINS IN BROWNSVILLE...

A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAS DUMPED OVER AN INCH OF RAIN WITHIN
THE PAST HALF HOUR IN BROWNSVILLE. GUSTS TO 35 MPH ALSO ACCOMPANIED THE
THUNDERSTORM.

THE VERY HEAVY RAINS IN SUCH A SHORT PERIOD OF TIME WILL CAUSE FLOODING
OF STREETS IN BROWNSVILLE AND SURROUNDING COUNTY ROADS. SOUTH PADRE
ISLAND ALSO REPORTED 1.36 INCHES EARLIER ALONG WITH STREET FLOODING
IN PORT ISABEL AND SOUTH PADRE ISLAND.

MOTORIST SHOULD AVOID CROSSING ROADS WHERE THE WATER IS OVER THE CURB
OR THE DEPTH OF THE WATER IS UNKNOWN.

THE THUNDERSTFORMS ARE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 5 MPH...WITH THE HEAVY RAINS
EXPECTED TO DIMINISH WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR.
Special weather statement, Jun 14, 4:46 PM CDT, 1 hour 1 minute before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
445 PM CDT SUN JUN 14 1987

...THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER PORTIONS OF DEEP SOUTH TEXAS...

AT 435 PM CDT...BROWNSVILLE WEATHER RADAR INDICATED WIDELY SCATTERED
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE LOWER RIO GRANDE VALLEY AND SURROUNDING
DEEP SOUTH TEXAS...FROM JUST WEST OF BROWNSVILLE TO NEAR LOS INDIOS...
FROM RAYMONDVILLE TO RACHAL TO NORTH STARR COUNTY...AND NEAR AND WEST
OF FALCON LAKE. MOVEMENT WAS SOUTHEAST AT 10 MPH.

VERY HEAVY RAINS...GUSTY WINDS...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING CAN BE EXPECTED
WITH THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS. BROWNSVILLE RECORDED 2.35 INCHES OF
RAIN IN WITHIN AN HOUR FROM A THUNDERSTORM THIS AFTERNOON. FLOODING OF
STREETS AND ROADS IS LIKELY WHERE THE HEAVIER RAINS FALL.

ELSEWHERE...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN NORTHEAST MEXICO...SOUTH
OF THE RIO GRANDE RIVER FROM FALCON LAKE TO BROWNSVILLE...AND EXTENDING
SOUTH TO NEAR CIUDAD VICTORIA.

OVER THE GULF OF MEXICO...WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSHOWERS WERE OFF
THE LOWER TEXAS COAST FROM 50 TO 150 MILES NORTHEAST TO EAST OF
BROWNSVILLE.

MOVEMENT WAS ALSO SOUTHEAST AT 10 MPH.

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.