Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1987
Tornado Warning 6, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at May 25, 1987, 6:36 PM CDT for Ward County, Texas. It was in force for 54 min. 1 report 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 25, 1987, 6:36 PM CDT (23:36 UTC)
- Expired
- May 25, 1987, 7:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 54 min
- Issued by
- NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Ward 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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 25, 7:09 PM CDT | Tornado F2 | Ward, 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, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 98 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1266 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -162 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1039 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 33 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 80 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 94 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KMAF 252336
TORMAF
TXC475-260030-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
636 PM CDT MON MAY 25 1987
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS
...WARD
FUNNEL CLOUD...GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN HAS BEEN
REPORTED AT PYOTE...AT 635 PM CDT. RADAR INDICATES A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM IN WARD COUNTY...MOVING EAST...AT 10 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
FLOORd 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, May 25, 4:35 PM CDT, 2 hours 1 minute before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX 433 PM CDT MON MAY 25 1987 AT 425 PM CDT...A VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORM HAS DEVELOPED OVER SOUTHWEST TEXAS 12 MILES SOUTHWEST OF WINK. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTH AT 10 MILES AN HOUR. STRONG GUSTY WINDS..DANGEROUS LIGHTNING..SMALL HAIL AND VERY HEAVY RAIN CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THIS STORM. FLOODING WILL ALSO OCCURR IN FLOOD PRONE AREAS. OTHER ISOLATED THUNDERSHOWERS WERE FORMING OVER WEST TEXAS FROM WEST OF LUBBOCK AND 18 MILES SOUTHEAST OF PECOS. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 25, 9:36 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Ector | 54 min |
| May 25, 10:03 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Ector | 57 min |
| May 25, 4:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Ward | 59 min |
| May 25, 5:03 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MAF | Loving, Ward | 42 min |
| May 25, 5:51 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | MAF | Ward | 99 min |
| May 25, 5:51 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MAF | Ward | 39 min |
| May 25, 6:57 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MAF | Pecos | 63 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.