Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1987
Tornado Warning 5, NWS Fort Worth, TX
NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this tornado warning at May 19, 1987, 1:50 PM CDT for McLennan County, Texas. It was in force for 55 min. 2 reports 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 19, 1987, 1:50 PM CDT (18:50 UTC)
- Expired
- May 19, 1987, 2:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 55 min
- Issued by
- NWS Fort Worth, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County McLennan 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 19, 2:25 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Mclennan, TX | |
| May 19, 2:44 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Mclennan, 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 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 113 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 123 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -308 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1669 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 33 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 41 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 96 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KACT 191850
TORACT
TXC309-191945-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WACO TX
150 PM CDT TUE MAY 19 1987
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 245 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS
...MCLENNAN AND THE CITY OF WACO
AT 150 PM CDT RADAR SHOWED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
WACO TEXAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.
TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE. OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINmDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.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 19, 1:31 PM CDT, 19 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WACO TX 130 PM CDT TUE MAY 19 1987 AT 125 PM CDT RADAR SHOWED THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN SCATTERED FROM NEAR COMANCHE TO 20 MILES SOUTH OF WACO. THESE THUNDERSTORMS LIKELY CONTAINED DOWNPOURS OF VERY HEAVY RAIN... STRONG GUSTY WIND...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND SMALL HAIL. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATIONS FBOR ANY FURTHER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Fort Worth, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 19, 2:04 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FWD | Eastland | 26 min |
| May 19, 2:38 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Palo Pinto, Stephens | 37 min |
| May 19, 3:12 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FWD | Bosque | 33 min |
| May 19, 4:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | McLennan | 51 min |
| May 19, 5:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Limestone | 68 min |
| May 19, 5:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Bosque, McLennan | 53 min |
| May 19, 6:33 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Hill | 57 min |
| May 19, 6:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Limestone | 46 min |
| May 19, 6:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Dallas | 44 min |
| May 19, 6:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Ellis | 53 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.