Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

September 12, 1987Galveston County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Sep 12, 1987, 1:28 PM CDT for Galveston County, Texas. It was in force for 62 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 12, 1987, 1:28 PM CDT (18:28 UTC)
Expired
Sep 12, 1987, 2:30 PM CDT
In force
62 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, 6.5 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 1987-09-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2935 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 1987-09-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 40 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
2935 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
603 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
40 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
78 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
4.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KGLS 121832
TORGLS
TXC071-167-122030-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GALVESTON TEXAS
128 PM CDT SAT SEP 12 1987 EXPIRES 230 PM CDT

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE
UNTIL  230 PM CDT FOR PERSONS IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN GALVESTON

SOUTHEAST TEXAS...

A TORNADO HAS BEEN REPORTED NEAR THE TEXAS CITY DIKE MOVING TO THE
NORTH AT 15 TO 20 MILES AN HOUR.

TAKE COVER IF YOU ARE INK THE PATH OF THIS STORM.

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, Sep 12, 10:38 AM CDT, 2 hours 50 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
1037 AM CDT SAT SEP 12 1987

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 2 PM FOR A PORTION
OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS WHICH INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...HOUSTON..
TRINITY..WASHINGTON..GRIMES..POLK..AND WALKER.

RADAR INDICATES A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING THROUGH
CENTRAL AND EAST TEXAS...MOVING RAPIDLY EAST TO SOUTHEAST AT
SPEEDS OVER 40 MPH.  THE LINE HAS ALREADY PASSED WACO AND STRETCHED
NORTHEAST TOWARDS THE TYLER AREA.

ON THE CURRENT TRACK...THE  LEADING OF THE THE LINE OF STORMS
WILL BE MOVING INTO NORTHERN COUNTIES OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS SHORTLY
...MOVING INTO HOUSTON COUNTY BEFORE 11 AM..AND INTO TRINITY AND
SAN JACINTO COUNTY AND NEAR THE LUFKIN AREA BETWEEN 11 AM AND NOON.

BOATERS ON AREA LAKES IN HOUSTON AND TRINITY AND SAN JACINTO COUNTIES
...INCLUDING LAKE LIVINGSTON...SHOULD BE BE ALERT FOR THUNDERSTORMS
APPROACHING FROM THE WEST AND NORTHWEST...AND BE READY TO QUICKLY HEAD
FOR SAFE HARBOUR.  THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY HAVE GUSTY WINDS
NEAR 50 MPH OR BETTER...AND WILL BE EXTREMELY HAZARDOUS TO SMALL
CRAFT.

CAMPERS ON AREA LAKES SHOULD ALSO BE AWARE THAT THESE STORMS WILL
BE MOVING INTO THE AREA OVER THE NEXT TWO HOURS...AND BE PREPARED
TO SEEK SAFETY IN STRONG BUILDINGS SHOULD SEVERE WEATHER BE SIGHTED
OR A WARNING ISSUED.

THE TRAILING EDGE OF THE SOUTHERN MOST PART OF THE LINE OF
THUNDERSTORMS COULD MOVE INTO THE HOUSTON AREA BY EARLY AFTERNOON.
AT THIS TIME THE SOUTHERN EDGE OF THE LINE APPEARS TO BE WEAKER
THAT THE REST OF THE LINE...BUT THE SITUATION COULD CHANGE OVER
THE NEXT FEW HOURS.

STAY TUNED TO YOUR WEATHER RADIO..LOCAL RADIO..AND TV FOR FURTHER
BULLETINS ON THE PROGRESS OF THIS SQUALL LINE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 12, 11:13 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHouston, Trinity, Walker47 min
Sep 12, 12:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXPolk, San Jacinto60 min
Sep 12, 12:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXMontgomery60 min
Sep 12, 1:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXChambers65 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.