Alert archive / New Mexico / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 2, NWS El Paso, TX

June 26, 1987Otero County, New Mexico

NWS El Paso, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 26, 1987, 11:15 PM MDT for Otero County, New Mexico. It was in force for 60 min. 1 report 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 26, 1987, 11:15 PM MDT (05:15 UTC)
Expired
Jun 27, 1987, 12:15 AM MDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS El Paso, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Otero County, NM

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 27, 12:05 AM MDTTornado F0Otero, NM

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

El Paso Intl Airport, TX (KELP), launched 00:00Z, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 110 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, El Paso Intl Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 1987-06-27Temperature 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, El Paso Intl Airport, TX at 00:00Z on 1987-06-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 23 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
23 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
125 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 KELP 270515
TORELP
NMC035-270615-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO AND FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX
1115 PM MDT FRI JUN 26 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1215 AM MDT AND A
FLASH FLOOD WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1215 AM MDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL NEW MEXICO
          ...CENTRAL OTERO
 
 
 
 
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, Jun 26, 7:13 PM MDT, 4 hours 2 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT..CORRECTION FOR TIME
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX
612 PM MDT FRI JUN 26 1987

...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED OVER PORTIONS OF EL PASO
   COUNTY INCLUDING THE EAST AND SOUTH SIDE OF THE CITY OF EL PASO..

THE THUNDERSTORMS OVER EL PASO COUNTY APPEAR TO BE DRIFTING SLOWLY TO
THE NORTHEAST..MODERATE RAIN WITH SMALL HAIL WAS REPORTED THE LAST FEW
MINUTES IN EAST EL PASO.

THESE STORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN..SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS.

FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS..ARROYOS AND LOW WATER CROSSINGS IS ALSO
LIKELY TO OCCUR. DANGEROUS LIGHTNING IS ALSO ANOTHER HAZARD USUALLY
PRODUCED BY THESE STORMS.

THESE STORMS SHOULD DISSAPATE OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS.
Special weather statement, Jun 26, 7:19 PM MDT, 3 hours 56 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT CORR TIME
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX
712 PM MDT FRI JUN 26 1987

...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED OVER PORTIONS OF EL PASO
   COUNTY INCLUDING THE EAST AND SOUTH SIDE OF THE CITY OF EL PASO..

THE THUNDERSTORMS OVER EL PASO COUNTY APPEAR TO BE DRIFTING SLOWLY TO
THE NORTHEAST..MODERATE RAIN WITH SMALL HAIL WAS REPORTED THE LAST FEW
MINUTES IN EAST EL PASO.

THESE STORMS WILL LIKELY PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN..SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WINDS.

FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS..ARROYOS AND LOW WATER CROSSINGS IS ALSO
LIKELY TO OCCUR. DANGEROUS LIGHTNING IS ALSO ANOTHER HAZARD USUALLY
PRODUCED BY THESE STORMS.

THESE STORMS SHOULD DISSAPATE OVER THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 26, 11:15 PM MDTFlash Flood WarningEPZOtero60 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.