Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

November 15, 1987Burleson County, Milam County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this tornado warning at Nov 15, 1987, 12:47 PM CST for Burleson County, Milam County, Texas. It was in force for 58 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Nov 15, 1987, 12:47 PM CST (18:47 UTC)
Expired
Nov 15, 1987, 1:45 PM CST
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Burleson County, TX, Milam 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

Victoria Regiona, TX (KVCT), launched 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 199 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, Victoria Regiona, TX at 12:00Z on 1987-11-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1923 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, Victoria Regiona, TX at 12:00Z on 1987-11-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 231 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
1923 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-5 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
599 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
231 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
274 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.3
Supercell composite
12.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KAUS 151847
TORAUS
TXC051-331-151945-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
1247 PM CST SUN NOV 15 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 145 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF

TEXAS...NORTHERN BURLESON AND MILAM

AT 1235 PM CST A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND TWO
MILES NORTH OF CALDWELL MOVING NORTHWARD.

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, Nov 15, 8:15 AM CST, 4 hours 32 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
810 AM CST SUN NOV 15 1987

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MOVING FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS SAN SABA
AND MILLS COUNTIES FROM NOW UNTILL ABOUT 10 AM.

THESE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE HEAVY RAINFALL AND GUSTY WINDS
ALONG WITH FREQUENT LIGHTNING.

LIGHT TO OCCASIONAL MODERATE SHOWERS WERE INDICATED SOUTHWEST THROUGH
SOUTH THROUGH SOUTHEAST OF AUSTIN MOVING NORTHWARD AT NEAR 30 MPH.

                            2 PAGES

                                                   7
Special weather statement, Nov 15, 8:16 AM CST, 4 hours 31 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
810 AM CST SUN NOV 15 1987

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MOVING FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS SAN SABA
AND MILLS COUNTIES FROM NOW UNTILL ABOUT 10 A:M.

THESE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MAY PRODUCE HEAVY RAINFALL AND GUSTY WINDS
ALONG WITH FREQUENT LIGHTNING.

LIGHT TO OCCASIONAL MODERATE SHOWERS WERE INDICATED SOUTHWEST THROUGH
SOUTH THROUGH SOUTHEAST OF AUSTIN MOVING NORTHWARD AT NEAR 30 MPH.
Local storm report, Nov 15, 12:18 PM CST, 29 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
1210 PM CST SUN NOV 15 1987

A SEVERE WEATHER EVENT OCCURRED IN JARRELL TX AREA BETWEEN 11-12 NOON.
PUBLIC REPORTED TORNADO DID DAMAGE TO SEVERAL FEED AND GRAIN BUILDING
AND ALSO TWISTED A TRAILER HOME AROUND...SOME POWER LINES ARE ALSO DOWN.

AT ABOUT THAT TIME AUSTIN RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM WITH TOPS
TO 410 THOUSAND IN THAT AREA MOVING NORTHWARD.
DOORS BLOWN OFF...METAL ROOFING MATERIAL PEELED OFF...AND SIGNS
BLOWN DOWN. FIRE DEPARTMENTS CREWS WERE CALLED OUT TO SECURE THE AREA
DUE TO FUEL LEAKS.

EXTENSIVE TREE AND POWER LINE DAMAGE WAS OBSERVED ALL AROUND THE
AIRPORT GROUNDS...ESPECIALLY THE EAST AND SOUTH SIDES. MANY TREES
WERE BROKEN OFF/UPROOTED ALONG MANOR ROAD AT THE ENTRANCE TO THE
MAIN TERMINAL BUILDING. MANY TREES WERE DOWNED ON THE MORRIS WILLIAMS
GOLF COURSE /ACROSS FROM THE AIRPORT ON MANOR ROAD/. STRUCTURAL
DAMAGE WAS REPORTED TO THE PROSHOP/CLUBHOUSE AS WEkLL.

2.93 INCHES OF RAIN WAS MEASURED AT THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE
BETWEEN 340PM AND 900PM.

END/JVD.
Local storm report, Nov 15, 12:19 PM CST, 28 minutes before
LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
1210 PM CST SUN NOV 15 1987

A SEVERE WEATHER EVENT OCCURRED IN JARRELL TX AREA BETWEEN 11-12 NOON.
PUBLIC REPORTED TORNADO DID DAMAGE TO SEVERAL FEED AND GRAIN BUILDING
AND ALSO TWISTED A TRAILER HOME AROUND...SOME POWER LINES ARE ALSO DOWN.

AT ABOUT THAT TIME AUSTIN RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM WITH TOPS
TO 410 THOUSAND IN THAT AREA MOVING NORTHWARD.

JARRELL IS LOCATED ABOUT 32 MILES NORlTH OF AUSTIN.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 15, 4:33 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXMilam57 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.