Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 12, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

May 26, 1987Andrews County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at May 26, 1987, 4:31 PM CDT for Andrews County, Texas. It was in force for 59 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 26, 1987, 4:31 PM CDT (21:31 UTC)
Expired
May 26, 1987, 5:30 PM CDT
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Andrews 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, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 57 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 KMAF 262131
TORMAF
TXC003-262230-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
431 PM CDT TUE MAY 26 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  530 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHWEST TEXAS
WESTERN ANDREWS
 
 
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

Local storm report, May 26, 1:30 PM CDT, 3 hours 1 minute before
POST LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
1138 PM CDT MON MAY 25 1987

TIME          COUNTY             EVENT
1603 CST     WARD TXC475      PUBLIC RTPD FUNNEL 2NE OF BARSTOW.
1652 CST     WARD TXC475      PUBLIC REPORTED TORNADO 5S OF BARSTOW.
1735 CST     WARD TXC475      GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL REPORTED AT PYOTE.
1746 CST     LEA NMC025       STATE POLICE REPORTED TORNADO 10-15S OF
                              HOBBS.
1748 CST     LEA NMC025       GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL AT EUNICE RPTD BY
                              STATE POLICE.
1809 CST     PECOS TXC371     SKYWARN SPOTTER RPTD TORNADO 12SW OF
             WARD TXC475      MONAHANS TX.
1823 CST     WARD TXC475      SKYWARN SPOTTER RPTD TORNADO SOUTHWEST
                              OF MONAHANS MOVING NE.
1853 CST     LEA NMC025       PUBLIC RPTD TORNADO 25SW OF HOBBS.
1906 CST     LEA NMC025       SKYWARN SPOTTER RPTD TORNADO 22SW
                              HOBBS.
1917 CST     LEA NMC025       STATE POLICE RPTD TORNADO 10W OF
                              MONUMENT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 25, 7:32 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFCrane, Ward58 min
May 26, 2:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFWard33 min
May 26, 3:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFWard, Winkler59 min
May 26, 4:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFAndrews63 min
May 26, 4:28 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFWinkler62 min
May 26, 4:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEctor61 min
May 26, 5:21 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFEctor54 min
May 26, 5:39 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFAndrews66 min
May 26, 6:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFMidland59 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.