Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Fort Worth, TX

May 19, 1987Eastland County, Texas

NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this tornado warning at May 19, 1987, 2:04 PM CDT for Eastland County, Texas. It was in force for 26 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 19, 1987, 2:04 PM CDT (19:04 UTC)
Expired
May 19, 1987, 2:30 PM CDT
In force
26 min
Issued by
NWS Fort Worth, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Eastland 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 19, 2:15 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Eastland, 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, 7.1 hours before the alert went out and 70 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 12:00Z on 1987-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 123 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 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 12:00Z on 1987-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 41 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KFTW 191904
TORFTW
TXC133-191930-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
204 PM CDT TUE MAY 19 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  230 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS
          ...EASTLAND
 
AT 20 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO BETWEEN RISING STAR
AND EASTLAND MOVING NORTH AT 30 MPH. THIS PATH WOULD CARRY THE STORM
VERY NEAR THE CITY OF EASTLAND BY 230 PM.
 
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, May 19, 1:31 PM CDT, 33 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 19, 1:50 PM CDTTornado WarningFWDMcLennan55 min
May 19, 2:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDPalo Pinto, Stephens37 min
May 19, 3:12 PM CDTTornado WarningFWDBosque33 min
May 19, 4:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDMcLennan51 min
May 19, 5:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDLimestone68 min
May 19, 5:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDBosque, McLennan53 min
May 19, 6:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHill57 min
May 19, 6:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDLimestone46 min
May 19, 6:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDDallas44 min
May 19, 6:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDEllis53 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.