Alert archive / New Mexico / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 20, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

May 28, 1987Lea County, New Mexico

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at May 28, 1987, 2:17 AM MDT for Lea County, New Mexico. It was in force for 58 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 28, 1987, 2:17 AM MDT (08:17 UTC)
Expired
May 28, 1987, 3:15 AM MDT
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Lea County, NM

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, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 147 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 00:00Z on 1987-05-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1337 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 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 00:00Z on 1987-05-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 31 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
1337 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2124 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
31 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
48 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMAF 280817
TORMAF
NMC025-280915-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
217 AM MDT THU MAY 28 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 315 AM MDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO
          ...LEA
RADAR INDICATES A POSSIBLE TORNADO 30 MILES SOUTHWEST OF EUNICE NEW
MEXICO MOVING NORTHEAST 30 MILES AN HOUR.
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 BODPY.  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 27, 9:24 PM MDT, 4 hours 53 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
1010 PM CDT WED MAY 27 1987

REPORTS RECEIVED THROUGH 1020 PM CDT WEDNESDAY MAY 27TH 1987
TIME          COUNTY             EVENT
1835 CDT     UPTON TXC461      GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL REPORTED DPS
1953 CDT     PECOS TXC371      FUNNEL CLOUD 3 SW FORT STOCKTON
                               DIME SIZE HAIL.
1955 CDT     UPTON TXC461      FUNNEL CLOUD 15 MILES NORTHEAST
                               CRANE (CRANE IN CRANE COUNTY)
2020 CDT     MIDLAND TXC329    GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL 10 MILES SOUTH OF MIDLAND.
2022 CDT     MIDLAND TXC329    FUNNEL CLOUD 10 MILES SOUTH OF MIDLAND.
2033 CDT     MIDLAND TXC329    2 FUNNEL CLOUDS 10 MILES SOUTH OF MIDLAND.
2034 CDT     MIDLAND TXC329    BASEBALL HAIL 2-3 MILES SOUTH OF MIDLAND.
2035 CDT     MIDLAND TXC329    QUARTER HAIL 5 MILES SOUTH OF MIDLAND.
2038 CDT     MIDLAND TXC329    BASEBALL HAIL 7 TO 8 MILES SOUTH OF MIDLAND.
2039 CDT     MIDLAND TXC329    BASEBALL HAIL 10 MILES SOUTH OF MIDLAND.
2041 CDT     MIDLAND TXC329    BASEBALL HAIL SOUTH SIDE OF MIDLAND.
2043 CDT     CRANE TXC103      BASEBALL HAIL 3 MILES NORTH OF CRANE.
2046 CDT     MIDLAND TXC329    UNCONFIRMED TORNADO 2 1/2 SOUTHWEST OF MIDLAND.

2048 CDT    MIDLAND TXC329        PUBLIC REPORT OF TORNADO 8-9 MILES
                                  SOUTH MIDLAND.
2015 CDT    PECOS TXC371          ROTATING WALL CLOUD WITH FUNNEL
                                  3 MILiES SOUTH FORT STOCKTON.
                                  RECEIVED 2100 CDT.

...END REPORT...

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 28, 2:06 AM MDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFLea54 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in New Mexico, 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.