Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 14, NWS Lubbock, TX

September 9, 1987Lubbock County, Texas

NWS Lubbock, TX issued this tornado warning at Sep 9, 1987, 6:49 PM CDT for Lubbock County, Texas. It was in force for 41 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 9, 1987, 6:49 PM CDT (23:49 UTC)
Expired
Sep 9, 1987, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS Lubbock, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Lubbock 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

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 12:00Z on 1987-09-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 58 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Amarillo Airport, TX at 12:00Z on 1987-09-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 54 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 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
58 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-191 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1294 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
54 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
105 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 092349 RRA
TORLBB
TXC303-100030-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
649 PM CDT WED SEP 9 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  730 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHWEST TEXAS
          ...WESTERN LUBBOCK
 
AT 650 PM CDT...A SEVERAL SKYWARN SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO JUST
WEST OF REESE AIR FORCE BASE...NEAR SMYER.  THIS STORM IS MOVING
SOUTHEAST AT AROUND 10 MILES AN HOUR.
 
 
DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF
A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

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 9, 5:00 PM CDT, 1 hour 49 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
500 PM CDT WED SEP 9 1987

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY OVER THE NORTHWEST SOUTH PLAINS...

AT 455 PM CDT...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...SOME VERY STRONG...WERE
DEVELOPING ACROSS THE NORTHWEST PART OF THE TEXAS SOUTH PLAINS. THE
STRONGEST STORM WAS IN LAMB COUNTY...ABOUT 10 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST
OF LITTLEFIELD.  ANOTHER STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS OVER LITTLEFIELD.
ACTIVITY WAS MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT AROUND 15 MILES AN HOUR.

THUNDERSTORMS ARE LIKELY TO INCREASE ACROSS THE SOUTH PLAINS TONIGHT
AS A POTENT UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANACE MIGRATES ACROSS THE REGION. THE
LAMB COUNTY STORMS ARE THE VANGUARD OF NUMEROUS THUNDERSTORMS THAT
SHOULD AFFECT THE AREA...WITH SOME HEAVY RAINFALL...SMALL HAIL AND
STRONG GUSTY WIND EXPECTED.  SOUTH PLAINS RESIDENTS ARE ADVISED THAT
SOME FLOODING OF LOW AREAS IS LIKELY...SINCE REPEATED RAINS DURING
THE PAST SEVERAL DAYS HAVE LEFT THE GROtUND QUITE MOIST ALREADY.

PERIODIC STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED AS THIS WEATHER SITUATION DEVELOPS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 9, 5:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBHale, Lamb68 min
Sep 9, 6:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBLubbock67 min
Sep 9, 6:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBHale63 min
Sep 9, 6:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBHockley39 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.