Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

November 25, 1987Wharton County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Nov 25, 1987, 6:21 AM CST for Wharton County, Texas. It was in force for 54 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Nov 25, 1987, 6:21 AM CST (12:21 UTC)
Expired
Nov 25, 1987, 7:15 AM CST
In force
54 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Wharton 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

Victoria Regiona, TX (KVCT), launched 12:00Z, 0.4 hours before the alert went out and 81 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, Victoria Regiona, TX at 12:00Z on 1987-11-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 640 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Victoria Regiona, TX at 12:00Z on 1987-11-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 124 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 km3 km6 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
640 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-22 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
643 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
124 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
141 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 KHOU 251221
TORHOU
TXC481-251315-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
621 AM CST WED NOV 25 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 AM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
          ...WHARTON
 
REPORTS OF THREE TORNADOS HAVE BEEN RECEVED FROM THE EL CAMPO AREA OF
WARTON COUNTY.  RADAR  INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN THE AREA
MOVING TO THE NORTH AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.
 
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, Nov 25, 2:38 AM CST, 3 hours 43 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
835 AM CDT MON APR 13 1987

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS...

WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE PRODUCING
HEAVY RAINFALL FROM MONTGOMERY ACROSS THE HUNTSVILLE AREA TO LAKE
LIVINGSTON.

THESE WERE PART OF A LARGE AREA OF RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS THAT
STRECHED FROM THE COAST WEST OF FREEPORT ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS TO
THE TOLEDO BEND LAKE AND INTO CENTERAL TEXAS. THESE WERE MOVING TO
THE NORTH AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

MOTORISTS ARE URGED TO SLOW DOWN ON RAIN SLICK STREETS AND BE ALERT
FOR MINOR FLOODING OF SOME LOW LYING AREAS.

STAY TUNED FOR LATER STATEMENTS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 25, 5:32 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXMontgomery43 min
Nov 25, 6:03 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXMontgomery117 min
Nov 25, 6:28 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXWalker2 hr
Nov 25, 8:05 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazoria40 min
Nov 25, 8:10 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXHarris2 hr
Nov 25, 8:27 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXGalveston63 min
Nov 25, 8:37 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXChambers68 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.