Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Lubbock, TX

May 28, 1987King County, Texas

NWS Lubbock, TX issued this tornado warning at May 28, 1987, 10:13 AM CDT for King County, Texas. It was in force for 47 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 28, 1987, 10:13 AM CDT (15:13 UTC)
Expired
May 28, 1987, 11:00 AM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Lubbock, TX
Area
Whole counties

County King 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

Fort Sill, OK (KFSI), launched 12:00Z, 3.2 hours before the alert went out and 206 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, Fort Sill, OK at 12:00Z on 1987-05-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 279 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Fort Sill, OK at 12:00Z on 1987-05-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 286 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
279 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-183 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
522 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
53 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
286 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
266 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLBB 281513
TORLBB
TXC269-281600-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
1013 AM CDT THU MAY 28 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1100 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHWEST TEXAS
          ...KING
 
AT 1010 AM CDT SEVERAL REPORTS OF FUNNEL CLOUDS WERE REPORTED BY
THE PUBLIC. STORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. THE
SHERIFFS OFFICE HAS REPORTED A TORNADO ON THE GROUND SOUTHWEST OF
GUTHRIE.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

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 28, 4:20 AM CDT, 5 hours 53 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
420 AM CDT THU MAY 28 1987

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH CONTINUES IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 AM FOR ALL
   OF THE SOUTH PLAINS...

AT 410 AM CDT LUBBOCK RADAR AN AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER
EASTERN LUBBOCK...EASTERN HALE...WESTERN FLOYD AND CROSBY COUNTIES.
THE STRONGEST STORM WAS LOCATED NEAR RALLS. THESE STORMS WERE MOVING
TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT ABOUT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE BEGINING TO MOVE INTO YOAKUM AND TERRY
COUNTIES. THESE STORMS WERE ALSO MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT
ABOUT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

THESE STORMS MAY PRODUCE BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WIND AND POSSIBLE
SMALL HAIL AS THEY PASS THROUGH THE AREA.
Special weather statement, May 28, 6:47 AM CDT, 3 hours 26 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
645 AM CDT THU MAY 28 1987

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 8 AM CDT FOR ALL THE
   SOUTH PLAINS...

AT 640 AM CDT THUNDERSTORMS COVERED MOST OF THE SOUTH PLAINS. STRONGEST
STORMS WERE LOCATED NEAR PLAINVIEW...BETWEEN CLAIRMONT AND JUSTICEBURG
...AND IN SOUTHERN TERRY AND LYNN COUNTIES FROM WELCH TO O'DONNEL. ALL
ACTIVITY WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

THESE STORMS ARE PRODUCING INTENSE CLOUD-TO-GROUND LIGHTNING...VERY
HEAVY RAINFALL AND SOME HAIL.  AT 637 AM CDT...THE PLAINVIEW CIVIL
DEFENSE REPORTED MARBLE SIZED HAIL...HEAVY RAIN AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING.

SOUTH PLAINS RESIDENTS ARE CAUTIONED THAT THIS STORM SYSTEM MAY REQUIRE
A FLASH FLOOD WARNING WITHIN THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS.  SOME LOW WATER
CROSSINGS MAY ALREADY BE ACCUMULATING WATER...SO MOTORISTS SHOULD BE
EXTREMELY CAREFUL WHEN COMMUTING THIS MORNING.

PERIODIC STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED BY YOUR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AS
INFORMATION BECOMES AVAILABLE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 27, 9:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBKent51 min
May 27, 11:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBKing51 min
May 28, 5:17 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBLynn, Terry58 min
May 28, 6:52 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBLynn68 min
May 28, 7:35 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLUBGarza, Lynn115 min
May 28, 7:35 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBGarza, Lynn55 min
May 28, 8:40 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBDickens50 min
May 28, 10:27 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningLUBTerry3 hr
May 28, 12:27 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLUBGarza, Lynn3 hr
May 28, 12:27 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningLUBKent3 hr

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.