Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

May 26, 1987Ector County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at May 26, 1987, 5:21 PM CDT for Ector County, Texas. It was in force for 54 min. 2 reports 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 26, 1987, 5:21 PM CDT (22:21 UTC)
Expired
May 26, 1987, 6:15 PM CDT
In force
54 min
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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 26, 5:34 PM CDTTornado F0Ector, TX
May 26, 5:52 PM CDTTornado F1Ector, 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, 10.4 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-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°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 262221
TORMAF
TXC135-262315-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
521 PM CDT TUE MAY 26 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS
          ...ECTOR
 
PUBLIC REPORTED A TORNADO ON THE GROUND  3 MILES NORTHWEST OF
PENWELL.
 
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASgEMENT.  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.

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, 4:31 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFAndrews59 min
May 26, 4:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEctor61 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.