Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1987
Tornado Warning 4, NWS Lubbock, TX
NWS Lubbock, TX issued this tornado warning at May 22, 1987, 6:36 PM CDT for Cochran County, Hockley County, Texas. It was in force for 39 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 22, 1987, 6:36 PM CDT (23:36 UTC)
- Expired
- May 22, 1987, 7:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 39 min
- Issued by
- NWS Lubbock, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Cochran County, TX, Hockley 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 22, 6:41 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Hockley, 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
Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 188 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
- 2177 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -22 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 643 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 39 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 97 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 90 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.8
- Supercell composite
- 3.9
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KLBB 222336 RRA
TORLBB
TXC079-219-230015-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
636 PM CDT FRI MAY 22 1987
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 715 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN NORTHWEST TEXAS
...EASTERN COCHRAN...WESTERN HOCKLEY
AT 635 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO IN EASTERN COCHRAN
COUNTY...AND SKYWARN SPOTTERES IN THE AREA ALSO REPORTED A POSSIBLE
TORNADO. MOVEMENT OF THE STORM WAS TO THE EAST ABOUT 5 MPH.
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HE!AD WITH YOUR HANDS.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 22, 3:45 PM CDT, 2 hours 51 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 345 PM CDT FRI MAY 22 1987 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR WESTERN SECTIONS OF WEST TEXAS UNTIL 10 PM CDT THIS EVENING. COUNTIES ON THE SOUTH PLAINS WHICH ARE INCLUDED IN THE WATCH ARE BAILEY...LAMB...COCHRAN ...HOCKLEY...YOAKUM AND TERRY. AT 340 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS SCATTERED OVER EAST CENTRAL NEW MEXICO FROM NEAR CLOVIS SOUTHWARD TO ABOUT 25 MILES WEST OF TATUM. RADAR INDICATED LITTLE MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO DEVELOPING OVER THE WEST CENTRAL PORTION OF THE TEXAS SOUTH PLAINS...AND SCATTERED SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED OVER THE EASTERN COUNTIES OF THE SOUTH PLAINS. LITTLE MOVEMENT WAS SHOWN OF SHOWERS AND THNDERSTORMS ON THE SOUTH PLAINS. PERSONS ON THE SOUTH PLAINS...PARTICULARLY IN THE WATCH AREA... SHOULD BE ON THE ALERT FOR POTENTIALLY SEVERE GWEATHER. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL CONTINUE TO MONITOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT ON THE SOUTH PLAINS AND LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS WILL BE ISSUED.
Special weather statement, May 22, 4:47 PM CDT, 1 hour 49 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX 445 PM CDT FRI MAY 22 1987 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE WESTERN COUNTIES THE TEXAS SOUTH PLAINS UNTIL 10 PM CDT... AT 440 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM THE SOUTHWEST PORTION OF THE TEXAS PANHANDLE SOUTHWESTWARD INTO EAST CENTRAL NEW MEXICO. THE LEADING EDGE OF THESE STORMS HAD SPREAD INTO EXTREME WESTERN COCHRAN COUNTY ON THE SOUTH PLAINS. MOVEMENT WAS TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 15 MPH. SHOWERS AND A FEW THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO SCATTERED OVER THE EXTREME EASTERN PORTION OF THE TEXAS SOUTH PLAINS. THSES SHOWERS WERE ALSO MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 15 MPH. REMEMBER...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THOSE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Lubbock, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 8:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Crosby, Lubbock | 50 min |
| May 21, 10:49 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Garza | 41 min |
| May 22, 5:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Cochran | 36 min |
| May 22, 5:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LUB | Cochran | 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.