Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

November 16, 1987Galveston County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Nov 16, 1987, 6:35 AM CST for Galveston County, Texas. It was in force for 30 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Nov 16, 1987, 6:35 AM CST (12:35 UTC)
Expired
Nov 16, 1987, 7:05 AM CST
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Galveston 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

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 180 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 1987-11-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1739 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 1987-11-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 323 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1739 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
554 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
33 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
323 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
366 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.4
Supercell composite
12.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, Nov 16, 2:04 AM CST, 4 hours 31 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GALVESTON TX
200 AM CST MON NOV 16 1987

 ....THE TORNADO WATCH FOR GALVESTON AND CHAMBERS COUNTIES AND THE
ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS HAS EXPIRED...

WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATES THAT THE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAVE
MOVED NORTHEAST AND OUT OF THE AREA...HOWEVER OTHER THUNDERSTORMS ARE
DEVELOPINAG WELL TO THE WEST AND COULD MOVE INTO THE AREA LATER TODAY.

...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH FzOR GALVESTON AND CHAMBERS COUNTIES REMAINS IN
EFFECT THROUGH TODAY...
Special weather statement, Nov 16, 2:06 AM CST, 4 hours 29 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GALVESTON TX
200 AM CST MON NOV 16 1987

 ....THE TORNADO WATCH FOR GALVESTON AND CHAMBERS COUNTIES AND THE
ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS HAS EXPIRED...

WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATES THAT THE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAVE
MOVED NORTHEAST AND OUT OF THE AREA...HOWEVER OTHER THUNDERSTORMS ARE
DEVELOPINAG WELL TO THE WEST AND COULD MOVE INTO THE AREA LATER TODAY
.

...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH FOR GALVESTON AND~ CHAMBERS COUNTIES REMAINS IN
EFFECT THROUGH TODAY...
Special weather statement, Nov 16, 3:08 AM CST, 3 hours 27 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
310 AM CST MON NOV 16 1987

...A TORANDO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PART OF SOUTH TEXAS
WEST OF HOUSTON UNTIL 800 AM CST...

THE TORNADO WATCH US ALONG AND 70 MILES EITHER SIDE OF A LINE FROM
70 MILES WEST OF COTULLA TO COLLEGE STATION AND INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES...AUSTIN...COLORADO..FORT BEND...WALLER...WASHINGTON...AND
WHARTON.

NO THUNDERSTORMS THREATEN THE ABOVE COUNTIES AT THIS TIME BUT NUMEROUS
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN THE WESTERN PART OF THE WATCH
AREA.  THEY ARE EXPECTED TO MOVE EASTWARD AND WILL THREATEN THESE
COUNTIES LATER THIS MORNING.

...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS...INCLUDING
THE HOUSTON...GALVESTON METROPOLITAN AREA...THROUGH TODAY.
Special weather statement, Nov 16, 4:27 AM CST, 2 hours 8 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
424 AM CST MON NOV 16 1987

...A TORANDO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PART OF SOUTH TEXAS
WEST OF HOUSTON UNTIL 800 AM CST...

THE TORNADO WATCH US ALONG AND 70 MILES EITHER SIDE OF A LINE FROM
70 MILES WEST OF COTULLA TO COLLEGE STATION AND INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES...AUSTIN...COLORADO..FORT BEND...WALLER...WASHINGTON...AND
WHARTON.

RADAR SHOWS THAT STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED WEST OF COLORADO
COLORADO.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MONITORED CLOSELY AS THEY
MOVE NORTH NORTHEASTWARD ALONG THE WESTERN EDGES OF COLORADO AUSTIN
AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES.

NUMEROUS SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN AND AROU[ND THE
SAN ANTONIO AREA.
Special weather statement, Nov 16, 4:32 AM CST, 2 hours 3 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
425 AM CST MON NOV 16 1987

...A TORANDO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PART OF SOUTH TEXAS
WEST OF HOUSTON UNTIL 800 AM CST...

THE TORNADO WATCH IS ALONG AND 70 MILES EITHER SIDE OF A LINE FROM
70 MILES WEST OF COTULLA TO COLLEGE STATION AND INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING
COUNTIES...AUSTIN...COLORADO..FORT BEND...WALLER...WASHINGTON...AND
WHARTON.

RADAR SHOWS THAT STRONG THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED WEST OF COLORADO
COUNTY.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MONITORED CLOSELY AS THEY
MOVE NORTH NORTHEASTWARD ALONG THE WESTERN EDGES OF COLORADO AUSTIN
AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES.

NUMEROUS SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN AND ARaOUND THE
SAN ANTONIO AREA THIS MORNING.
Special weather statement, Nov 16, 6:33 AM CST, 2 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The office that day

Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 16, 6:17 AM CSTTornado WarningHGXBrazoria58 min
Nov 16, 8:19 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHarris56 min
Nov 16, 8:35 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazoria55 min
Nov 16, 8:45 AM CSTTornado WarningHGXGalveston30 min
Nov 16, 9:06 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXChambers, Galveston2 hr
Nov 16, 9:08 AM CSTTornado WarningHGXChambers30 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.