Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 19, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

November 16, 1987Jackson County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this tornado warning at Nov 16, 1987, 7:36 AM CST for Jackson County, Texas. It was in force for 54 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Nov 16, 1987, 7:36 AM CST (13:36 UTC)
Expired
Nov 16, 1987, 8:30 AM CST
In force
54 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Jackson 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, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 33 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 1987-11-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3540 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 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 1987-11-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 91 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
3540 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
539 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
91 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
57 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
6.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KVCT 161336
TORVCT
TXC239-161430-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE VICTORIA TX
736 AM CST MON NOV 16 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 AM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
          ...JACKSON
 
SHERIFF DEPARTMENT REPORTED A TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN IN LA
WARD AT 722 AM. A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED NEAR HIGH WAY 59 ABOUT
THE SAME TIME.  MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 35 MPH.
 
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, Nov 16, 1:49 AM CST, 5 hours 47 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DEL RIO TX
149 AM CST MON NOV 16 1987

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR VAL VERDE COUNTY INCLUDING THE CITY
OF DEL RIO UNTIL 800 AM THIS MONDAY MORNING...

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 70 STATUTE MILES EITHER SIDE OF A
LINE FROM 70 MILES WEST OF COTULLA TEXAS TO COLLEGE STATION TEXAS.

AT 145 AM RADAR INDICATED NO PRECIPITATION IN VAL VERDE COUNTY. ISOLATED
RAINSHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DEL RIO
IN OLD MEXICO. MOVEMENT OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20
MPH.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREAa.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.
Local storm report, Nov 16, 2:28 AM CST, 5 hours 8 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO TX
225 AM CST MON NOV 16 1987

TIME         EVENT
BETWEEN      POSSIBLE TORNADO TOUCHDOWN OR STRONG THUNDERSTORM WINDS
2 AM AND     TOOK ROOF OFF STORE IN INGRAM TEXAS.  INGRAM LOCATED JUST
205 AM CST   NORTHEAST OF KERRVILLE ON IH 10.  REPORT RECEIVED FROM
             KERR COUNTY SHERIFF DEPARTMENT.
Special weather statement, Nov 16, 4:02 AM CST, 3 hours 34 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DEL RIO TX
402 AM CST MON NOV 16 1987

...VAL VERDE COUNTY IS NO LONGER INCLUDED IN THE TORNADO WATCH
AREA ISSUED EARLIER THIS MONDAY MORNING...

AT 355 AM RADAR INDICATED ALL PRECIPITATION HAD MOVED EAST OF VAL
VERDE COUNTY. RAINSHOWERS WERE DEVELOPING JUST WEST OF DEL RIO TO 35
MILES SOUTH IN OLD MEXICO. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE NOT EXPECTED TO
REDEVELOP IN THE VAL VERDE COUNTY AREA.

THE NATION@AL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE AT THE DEL RIO INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT RECIEVED ONLY .02 INCH OF RAIN AND WIND GUSTS TO 32 MPH
DURING THE THUNDERSTORM THAT PASSED THROUGH THE DEL RIO AREA AROUND
MID-NIGHT.
Local storm report, Nov 16, 7:11 AM CST, 25 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO TX
710 AM CST MON NOV 16 1987

TIME         EVENT

BETWEEN      NUMEROUS REPORTS OF FUNNEL CLOUD SIGHTINGS IN AND AROUND
4 AM AND     SAN ANTONIO AND BEXAR COUNTY.  NO TOUCHDOWNS CONFIRMED.
6 AM CST     UNOFFICIAL WIND GUSTS BETWEEN 50 AND 60 MPH IN THE CITY.
             SOME TREE LIMB DAMAGE.  CONSIDERABLE LIGHTNING STRIKES.
             SOME POWER OUTAGES AND TRAFFIC SIGNAL MALFUNCTIONS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 15, 10:25 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXCalhoun50 min
Nov 16, 1:08 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXMaverick67 min
Nov 16, 1:21 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBandera, Kerr, Real69 min
Nov 16, 2:05 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXGillespie55 min
Nov 16, 2:31 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBandera, Uvalde59 min
Nov 16, 2:56 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBurnet, Llano64 min
Nov 16, 2:58 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXMedina62 min
Nov 16, 2:58 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXKendall62 min
Nov 16, 3:20 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXMcMullen55 min
Nov 16, 3:34 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBexar56 min
Nov 16, 3:38 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXFrio67 min
Nov 16, 3:55 AM CSTTornado WarningEWXBexar65 min
Nov 16, 5:04 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXKarnes56 min
Nov 16, 5:30 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXDeWitt60 min
Nov 16, 7:04 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXVictoria56 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.