Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Fort Worth, TX

May 27, 1987Hamilton County, Texas

NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this tornado warning at May 27, 1987, 6:43 PM CDT for Hamilton County, Texas. It was in force for 62 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 27, 1987, 6:43 PM CDT (23:43 UTC)
Expired
May 27, 1987, 7:45 PM CDT
In force
62 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 12:00Z, 11.7 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 12:00Z on 1987-05-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 793 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 1987-05-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 116 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
793 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-158 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
703 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
116 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
296 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 272343
TORFTW
TXC193-280045-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
643 PM CDT WED MAY 27 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS
          ...HAMILTON
 
THE HAMILTON COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE REPORTED A POSSIBLE TORNADO
ABOUT ONE MILE NORTH OF THE ROWN OF EVANT.  THE TORNADO WAS MOVING TO
THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. PERSONS ESPECIALLY IN THE TOWNS OF
EVANT...OHIO...ALEMAN...AND WHITEWAY SHOULD 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 WINDOWS.  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 27, 3:34 PM CDT, 3 hours 9 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WACO TX
 315 PM CDT WED MAY 27 1987

...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS INCREASING IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY...

AT 305 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED LIGHT TO MODERATE SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS FROM JUST SOUTH OF WACO TO THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF BELL
COUNTY NEAR BARTLETT MOVING NORTH AT AROUND 15 MPH.
THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD MOVE INTO THE WACO AREA WITHIN THE NEXT
HOUR OR TWO.
MOSTLY LIGHT SHOWERS WERE NORTHWEST OF COLLEGE STATION.
Special weather statement, May 27, 4:47 PM CDT, 1 hour 56 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
445 PM CDT WED MAY 27 1987

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTHWEST SECTION OF
NORTH TEXAS...THE SOUTHEAST PART OF THE SOUTH PLAINS AND PORTIONS
OF THE EDWARDS PLATEAU. THE WATCH IS ALONG AND 70 STATUE MILES EITHER
SIDE OF A LINE FROM 70 MILES WEST SOUTHWEST OF SAN ANGELO TO 50
MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF WICHITA FALLS. THE DALLAS/FORT WORTH
METROPLEX IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE WATCH. THE CITIES OF ABILENE...
SEYMOUR..HASKELL AND ANSON ARE IN THE WATCH AREA.

AT 440 PM...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
ACROSS MOST OF NORTH TEXAS. A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS SOUTH OF
GATESVILLE IN THE SOUTHERN PART OF CORYELL COUNTY. MOVEMENT WAS
NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

A TORNADO WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE
AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THR=EATENING WEATHER AND BE PREPARED
TO TAKE QUICK ACTION.

LISTEN TO YOUR NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL TV OR RADIO FOR LATER
STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, May 27, 5:46 PM CDT, 57 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
545 PM CDT WED MAY 27 1987

A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM FOR MOST OF THE LOW ROLLING
PLAINS...THE NORTHWEST PART OF THE EDWARDS PLATEAU...SOUTHEAST PART
OF THE SOUTH PLAINS..AND NORTHWEST SECTIONS OF NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS.
THE DALLAS/FORT WORTH METROPLEX IS NOT INCLUDED IN THE WATCH AREA.

AT 540 PM...WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
ACROSS MOST OF NORTH TEXAS. STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN NORTHERN
LAMPASAS COUNTY...SOUTHWEST MCLENNAN COUNTY...AND NEAR CANTON IN
CENTRAL VAN ZANDT COUNTY. THE THUNDERSTORM IN NORTH LAMPASAS COUNTY
WAS INTENSIFYING AND HEAVY RAINFALL IS POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.
MOVEMENT OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WAS NORTH AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

A TORNADO WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE
AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FORI THREATENING WEATHER AND BE PREPARED
TO SEEK COVER IN A REINFORCED SHELTER IF A TORNADO IS SIGHTED OR
A WARNING IS ISSUED.

STAY TUNED TO YOUR NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL TV OR RADIO FOR
LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 27, 3:43 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDFoard, Knox62 min
May 27, 3:43 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHardeman62 min
May 27, 6:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDFoard, Knox60 min
May 27, 6:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHamilton65 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.