Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Fort Worth, TX

March 16, 1987Hamilton County, Texas

NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this tornado warning at Mar 16, 1987, 9:58 PM CST for Hamilton County, Texas. It was in force for 32 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 16, 1987, 9:58 PM CST (03:58 UTC)
Expired
Mar 16, 1987, 10:30 PM CST
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Fort Worth, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Hamilton 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

Stephenville/Cla, TX (KSEP), launched 00:00Z, 4.0 hours before the alert went out and 57 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, Stephenville/Cla, TX at 00:00Z on 1987-03-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1527 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Stephenville/Cla, TX at 00:00Z on 1987-03-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 114 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1527 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
781 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
114 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
106 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.8
Supercell composite
4.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFTW 170358
TORFTW
TXC193-170430-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
958 PM CST MON MAR 16 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS
          ...HAMILTON
 
AT 950 PM CST THE HAMILTON SHERIFF REPORTED A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN
SOUTHERN HAMILTON COUNTY MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.
 
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, Mar 16, 6:14 PM CST, 3 hours 44 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WACO TX
610 PM CST MON MAR 16 1987

...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT TONIGHT FOR ALL OF NORTH TEXAS
WHICH ALSO INCLUDES PART OF THE BRAZOS VALLEY AREA...

AT 600 PM CST RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING BETWEEN KILLEEN
AND LAMPASAS. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES
AN HOUR AND CONTAINED VERY HEAVY RAIN.

SHOWERS WERE ALSO ON THE INCREASE ACROSS CENTRAL TEXAS.

YOU ARE URGED TO STAY TUNED AND ALERT TO THIS POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS
WEATHER SITUATION AS THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE WEATHER AND FLASH
FLOODING INCREASES THROUGHOUT TONIGHT.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL RADIO OR TV FOR FURTHER
STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, Mar 16, 6:59 PM CST, 2 hours 59 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
700 PM CST MON MAR 16 1987

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS BEGIN TO DEVELOP SOUTH OF THE DALLAS-FORT
WORTH AREA...

AT 700 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM
ON THE JOHNSON-HILL COUNTY LINE ABOUT 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF HILLSBORO.
THE STORM WAS MOVING ALMOST DUE NORTH ABOUT 25 MPH. GUSTY WINDS..SMALL
HAIL..AND VERY HEAVY RAINFALL ARE LIKELY WITH THIS STORM AS IT MOVES
ACROSS EASTERN JOHNSON COUNTY AND APPROACHES TARRANT AND DALLAS
COUNTIES DURING THE NEXT 30 TO 60 MINUTES.

A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR WESTERN PORTIONS OF NORTH TEXAS
TIL 9PM. ALTHOUGH THE METROPLEX IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE WATCH..THERE
IS A THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER IN THE AREA THIS EVENING.

A FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT TONIGHT GENERALLY WEST OF A PARIS
TO CENTERVILLE LINE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 16, 9:20 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDWood25 min
Mar 16, 9:50 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHopkins40 min
Mar 16, 10:14 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDSmith46 min
Mar 17, 1:24 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDBell, Falls, McLennan66 min
Mar 17, 1:26 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDUpshur34 min
Mar 17, 2:01 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHill29 min
Mar 17, 6:13 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDSmith32 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.