Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Fort Worth, TX

May 3, 1987Bosque County, Texas

NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this tornado warning at May 3, 1987, 5:53 AM CDT for Bosque County, Texas. It was in force for 52 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
May 3, 1987, 5:53 AM CDT (10:53 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 1987, 6:45 AM CDT
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Fort Worth, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Bosque County, TX

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
May 3, 6:09 AM CDTHail 0.75Bosque, TX

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

Stephenville/Cla, TX (KSEP), launched 00:00Z, 10.9 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 1987-05-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3269 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 1987-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 28 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
3269 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1681 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
28 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
189 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
3.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KACT 031053
TORACT
TXC035-031145-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WACO TX
553 AM CDT SUN MAY 3 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS
          ...BOSQUE
 
AT 552 AM CDT RADAR SHOWED A POSSIBLE TORNADO JUST SOUTHWEST OF
IRIDELL TEXAS OR 15 MILES WEST OF MERIDIAN TEXAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT
20 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 BLANKjETS...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, May 3, 12:30 AM CDT, 5 hours 23 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WACO TX
1230 AM CDT SUN MAY 3 1987

AT 1225 AM CDT RADAR SHOWED AN ISOLATED THUNDERSHOWER 20 MILES IN
DIAMETER 35 MILES NORTH OF FORT WORTH. MOVEMENT W;AS NORTHEAST AT
30 MILES AN HOUR.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATION
FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS.
Special weather statement, May 3, 1:30 AM CDT, 4 hours 23 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WACO TX
130 AM CDT SUN MAY 3 1987

AT 125 AM CDT RADAR SHOWED AN ISOLATED THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY
RAIN HAS FORMED 40 MILES WEST OF MINERAL WELLS. [MOVEMENT WAS
NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATION
FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS.
Special weather statement, May 3, 2:23 AM CDT, 3 hours 30 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
225 AM CDT SUN MAY 03 1987

...INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO SOUTHWEST EASTLAND COUNTY...

AT 2:20 AM CDT WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED AN AREA OF INTENSE
THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTHEAST CALLAHAN AND NORTHEAST COLEMAN COUNTIES.
THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL BE MOVING
INTO SOUTHWEST EASTLAND COUNTY NEAR RISING STAR WITHIN THE NEXT HALF
HOUR.

THESE STORMS WILL LIKELY BE ACCOMPANIED BY DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...
HAIL...GUSTY WINDS...AND HEAVY RAIN.

LATER STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED AS WARRANTED.
Special weather statement, May 3, 2:34 AM CDT, 3 hours 19 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WACO TX
235 AM CDT SUN MAY 3 1987

AT 225 AM CDT RADAR SHOWED A BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY
RAIN FOR 30 MILES TO THE NORTHWEST OF A LINE FROM 30 MILES NORTHWEST
OF FORT WORTH TO 30 MILES WEST OF BROWNWOOD.

MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATION
FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 3, 2:10 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDCallahan, Coleman60 min
May 3, 2:35 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDEastland55 min
May 3, 3:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDBrown60 min
May 3, 3:32 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDComanche, Erath, Palo Pinto58 min
May 3, 3:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDParker, Wise67 min
May 3, 3:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDBrown80 min
May 3, 3:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDColeman40 min
May 3, 4:16 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDCooke59 min
May 3, 4:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDComanche65 min
May 3, 5:04 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDBosque56 min
May 3, 5:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDDenton61 min
May 3, 5:19 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDTarrant56 min
May 3, 5:40 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDJohnson65 min
May 3, 5:46 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHamilton59 min
May 3, 5:56 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHill64 min
May 3, 6:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDCoryell, McLennan61 min
May 3, 7:03 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDMcLennan57 min
May 3, 6:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHill, McLennan62 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.