Alert archive / Texas / Flash Flood Warnings in 1987

Flash Flood Warning 4, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

May 22, 1987Ector County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this flash flood warning at May 22, 1987, 11:15 PM CDT for Ector County, Texas. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: May 22, 1987, 11:15 PM CDT (04:15 UTC)
Expired: May 23, 1987, 1:15 AM CDT
In force: 2 hr
Issued by: NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area: Whole counties

County Ector 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 00:00Z, 4.3 hours before the alert went out and 34 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 998 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1548 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -2 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -10 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 KMAF 230420
FFWMAF
TXC135-230615-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
FLASH FLOOD WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
1115 PM CDT FRI MAY 22 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  115 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS
          ...NORTHERN ECTOR
 
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATES THAT THUNDERSTORMS MOVING
THROUGH NORTHERN ECTOR COUNTY...NEAR GOLDSMITH...DURING THE PAST
HOUR...HAS PRODUCED LOCAL STREET AND HIGHWAY FLOODING. RESIDENTS OF
THIS AREA SHOULD BE ADVISED OF THE CONTINUING POTENTIAL FOR CONTINUED
FLOODING OVER THE NEXT 2 HOURS.
 
BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AT NIGHT WHEN IT IS HARDER TO RECOGNIZE
THE DANGERS OF FLOODS AND FLASH FLOODS.  IF FLASH FLOODING IS
OBSERVED...ACT QUICKLY.  MOVE UP TO ESCAPE FLOOD WATERS.  DO
NOT STAY IN AREAS SUBJECT TO FLOODING WHEN WATER BEGINS RISING.
 
DO NOT DRIVE YOUR VEHICLE INTO AREAS WHERE THE WATER COVERS THE
ROADWAY.  THE WATER DEPTH MAY BE TOO GREAT TO ALLOW YOUR CAR TO
CROSS SAFELY.  VEHICLES CAUGHT IN RISING WATER SHOULD BE
ABANDONED QUICKLY.  MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this flash flood 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, 10:31 PM CDT, 44 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND, TX
1025PM CDT FRI MAY 22 1987

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING IN THE ODESSA/MIDLAND AREA...

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATES THAT VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS
ARE NOW BUILDING OVER GOLDSMITH...NORTHWEST OF ODESSA. THEY ARE MOVING
SLOWLY TO THE EAST...AT 10 MPH.

RESIDENTS OF ECTOR AND MIDLAND COUNTIES SHOULD BE AWARE THAT THESE
THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE MOVING ACROSS THE AREA...DURING THE NEXT FEW HOURS.

STAY TUNED TO LOCAL RADIO/TV...AND NOAA WEATHER RADIO.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 22, 7:37 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MAF	Reeves	2 hr
May 22, 7:37 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Reeves	2 hr
May 22, 7:54 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MAF	Reeves	66 min
May 22, 9:04 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	MAF	Pecos, Reeves	56 min
May 23, 9:36 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Ector, Ward	54 min
May 23, 10:03 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Ector, Winkler	57 min
May 23, 10:28 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Ector	62 min
May 23, 10:40 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Midland	65 min
May 23, 10:50 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Andrews	55 min
May 23, 11:43 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Ector	62 min
May 23, 11:43 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Winkler	77 min
May 23, 2:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Ector	58 min
May 23, 2:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Midland	60 min
May 23, 3:02 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Ector	28 min
May 23, 3:40 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Midland	50 min
May 23, 4:46 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Loving	59 min
May 23, 5:04 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Upton	56 min

Nearby

Flash Flood Warnings in Texas, 1987 Every flash flood 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.