Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1987
Tornado Warning 7, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
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.
- 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
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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 12, 11:13 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Houston, Trinity, Walker | 47 min |
| Sep 12, 12:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Polk, San Jacinto | 60 min |
| Sep 12, 12:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Montgomery | 60 min |
| Sep 12, 1:55 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Chambers | 65 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.