Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1987
Tornado Warning 4, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at May 29, 1987, 1:13 PM CDT for Liberty County, Texas. It was in force for 47 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 29, 1987, 1:13 PM CDT (18:13 UTC)
- Expired
- May 29, 1987, 2:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 47 min
- Issued by
- NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Liberty 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 29, 1:30 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 0 | Liberty, 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
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 6.2 hours before the alert went out and 155 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
- 1035 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -84 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 701 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 37 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 109 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 174 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.3
- Supercell composite
- 3.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KHOU 291813
TORHOU
TXC291-291900-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
113 PM CDT FRI MAY 29 1987
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 200 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
...LIBERTY
THE LIBERTY COUNTY SHERIFF DEPARTEMENT REPORTED A TORNADO ON THE
GROUND NORTHEAST OF LIBERTY IN HARDIN. THIS STORM IS MOVING TO THE
NORTHEAST# AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.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 29, 7:55 AM CDT, 5 hours 18 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX 755 AM CDT FRI MAY 29 1987 A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON FOR PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND INCLUDES WASHINGTON...AUSTIN... WALLER...COLORADO...WHARTON...FORT BEND...MATAGORDA AND BRAZORIA COUNTIES IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS. WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWS STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FROM NAVASOTA TO EAGLE LAKE. THESE STORMS WILL LIKELY CONTAIN GUSTY WINDS...HAIL... DANGEROUS LIGHTNING STRIKES AND HEAVY RAINS AS THEY MOVE EAST. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE PART OF A LARGE AREA OF RAIN MOVING THROUGH SOUTHEAST TEXAS. THE LEADING EDGE OF THE RAIN WAS FROM LAKE LIVINGSTON TO MONTGOMERY TO PALACIOS. THE AREA WAS MOVING EAST AT 15 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR. IF PRESENT MOVEMENT CONTIUES THE RAIN WILL BE IN THE HOUSTON AREA BETWEEN 830 AND 930 AM. STAY TUNED FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS AS NEEDED.
Special weather statement, May 29, 8:42 AM CDT, 4 hours 31 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GALVESTON TX 840 AM CDT FRI MAY 28 1987 AT 830 AM CDT...A 15 MILE WIDE LINE OF NUMEROUS VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORMS STRETCHED FROM NEAR COLLEGE STATION TO VICTORIA... AND EXTENDED INTO MATAGORDA BAY. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WITHIN THIS LINE WERE LOCATED NEAR PALACIOS. MOVEMEMT WAS SOUTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR. OTHER SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS AND PATCHES OF RAIN COVERED MUCH OF SOUTHCENTRAL TEXAS AND THE LOWER COASTAL PLAINS.
Special weather statement, May 29, 8:55 AM CDT, 4 hours 18 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX 855 AM CDT FRI MAY 29 1987 A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL NOON FOR PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND INCLUDES WASHINGTON...AUSTIN... WALLER...COLORADO...WHARTON...FORT BEND...MATAGORDA AND BRAZORIA COUNTIES IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS. WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWS STRONG THUNDERSTORMS FROM EAST OF COLLEGE STATION TO SEALY AND EL CAMPO. THESE STORMS WILL LIKELY CONTAIN GUSTY WINDS...HAIL...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING STRIKES AND HEAVY RAINS AS THEY MOVE EAST. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE PART OF A LARGE AREA OF RAIN MOVING THROUGH SOUTHEAST TEXAS. THE LEADING EDGE OF THE RAIN WAS FROM LAKE LIVINGSTON TO SUGAR LAND AND MATAGORDA. THE AREA WAS MOVING EAST AT 15 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR. IF PRESENT MOVEMENT CONTIUES THE RAIN WILL BE IN THE HOUSTON AREA BETWEEN 930 AND 1030 AM. STAY TUNED FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS AS NEEDED.
Special weather statement, May 29, 12:18 PM CDT, 55 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX 1218 AM CDT FRI MAY 29 1987 A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS EXPIRED AT NOON... WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWS A CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS NORTHEAST OF HOUSTON AND TO THE WEST OF THE FREEPORT LAKE JACKSON AREA NEAR SARGENT. THESE STORMS WILL LIKELY CONTAIN GUSTY WINDS...HAIL... DANGEROUS LIGHTNING STRIKES AND HEAVY RAINS AS THEY MOVE EAST. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 20 MPH. IF THE PRESENT MOVEMENT CONTIUES THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE IN THE FREEPORT...LAKE JACKSON AREA BETWEEN 1230 AND 100 PM CDT. STAY TUNED FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS AS NEEDED."
Special weather statement, May 29, 12:23 PM CDT, 50 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX 1218 PM CDT FRI MAY 29 1987 A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS EXPIRED AT NOON... WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWS A CLUSTER OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS NORTHEAST OF HOUSTON AND TO THE WEST OF THE FREEPORT LAKE JACKSON AREA NEAR SARGENT. THESE STORMS WILL LIKELY CONTAIN GUSTY WINDS...HAIL... DANGEROUS LIGHTNING STRIKES AND HEAVY RAINS AS THEY MOVE EAST. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 20 MPH. IF THE PRESENT MOVEMENT CONTIUES THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE IN THE FREEPORT...LAKE JACKSON AREA BETWEEN 1230 AND 100 PM CDT. STAY TUNED FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS AS NEED*ED.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 29, 9:53 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Matagorda, Wharton | 67 min |
| May 29, 10:32 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Harris | 43 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.