Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 27, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

June 21, 1987Upton County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 21, 1987, 6:30 PM CDT for Upton County, Texas. It was in force for 30 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jun 21, 1987, 6:30 PM CDT (23:30 UTC)
Expired
Jun 21, 1987, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Upton 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, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 66 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 1987-06-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1258 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 12:00Z on 1987-06-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -34 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
1258 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-438 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1567 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-34 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
25 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 212330
TORMAF
TXC461-220000-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
630 PM CDT SUN JUN 21 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS
          ...UPTON
 
AT 630 PM CDT A SKYWARN SPOTTER REPORTED A TORNADO 2 MILES NORTH OF
MCCAMEY. WINDS WERE CLOCKED AT 69 MILES AN HOUR.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

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, Jun 21, 3:33 PM CDT, 2 hours 57 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
330 PM CDT SUN JUN 21 1987

...VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS OVER SOUTHWEST TEXAS...

THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED RAPIDLY IN WEST TEXAS NORTH OF THE
BIG BEND. THUNDERSTORMS WERE SCATTERED FROM THE BIG BEND NORTH INTO
SOUTHERN NEW MEXICO MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 TO 30 MILES AN HOUR.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...
VERY HEAVY RAINS...DEADLY LIGHTNING= AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS.

IF A THUNDERSTORM APPROACHES YOUR LOCATION GET TO SAFETY AND RELAY
ANY SEVERE WEATHER REPORTS TO THE LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY OR
THE NEAREST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 21, 2:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFPecos33 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.