Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Lubbock, TX

May 26, 1987Hockley County, Texas

NWS Lubbock, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 26, 1987, 9:01 AM CDT for Hockley County, Texas. It was in force for 44 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 26, 1987, 9:01 AM CDT (14:01 UTC)
Expired
May 26, 1987, 9:45 AM CDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Lubbock, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Hockley 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

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 12:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 185 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, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 1987-05-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 612 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 1987-05-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 177 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
612 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-84 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
624 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
177 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
183 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 KLBB 261401 RRA
SVRLBB
TXC219-261445-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
901 AM CDT TUE MAY 26 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHWEST TEXAS
          ...HOCKLEY
 
AT 900 AM CDT LUBBOCK RADAR SHOWS A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER HOCKLEY
COUNTY...OR ABOUT NORTHWEST 5 MILE NORTHWEST OF LEVELLAND. MOVEMENT
IS TO THE NORTH NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST\ FLOOR
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 26, 5:23 AM CDT, 3 hours 38 minutes before
WEST TEXAS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
530 AM CDT TUE MAY 26 1987

 ...STRONG SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL IN PLACE OVER THE PANHANDLE AND
    SOUTH PLAINS LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING...

A SIGNIFICANT OUTBREAK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND POSSIBLY TORNADOES
IS EXPECTED THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY THIS EVENING OVER THE PANHANDLE
AND SOUTH PLAINS. THE AREA OF GREATEST THREAT WILL INCLUDE THE LUBBOCK
VICINITY AND EXTEND NORTHWARD THROUGH THE PANHANDLE. A LESSER CHANCE
OF SEVERE STORMS IS EXPECTED OVER THE PERMIAN BASIN THIS EVENING.

THE COMBINATION OF ABUNDANT GULF MOISTURE...A STRONG UPPER LEVEL
DISTURBANCE APPROACHING FROM THE SOUTHWEST...AND A PROMINENT JET IN
THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE WILL PROVIDE THE HIGHLY UNSTABLE SETTING FOR THE
STORMS.  AS A DRYLINE--OR TROUGH SEPARATING DRY AIR TO THE WEST FROM
MOIST GULF AIR TO THE EAST--SURGES EASTWARD THIS AFTERNOON THE STORMS
WILL ERUPT.

DAYTIME HEATING WILL RENDER THE ATMOSPHERE VOLATILE ENOUGH TO
GENERATE A GOOD CHANCE FOR TORNADOES. THE MOST FAVORED TIME OF SEVERE
WEATHER TODAY WILL BE FROM 4 PM CDT THROUGH MIDNIGHT.

RESIDENTS OF THE PANHANDLE AND SOUTH PLAINS ARE THEREFORE ADVISED TO
PAY SPaECIAL ATTENTION TO LOCAL WEATHER DEVELOPMENTS.  DO NOT VENTURE
OUT OF TOUCH OF COMMERCIAL RADIO OR TELEVISION--OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Lubbock, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 25, 7:15 PM CDTTornado WarningLUBHale45 min
May 26, 1:46 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBGarza59 min
May 26, 6:25 PM CDTTornado WarningLUBHale50 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 1987Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.