Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

May 25, 1987Pecos County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at May 25, 1987, 6:57 PM CDT for Pecos County, Texas. It was in force for 63 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 25, 1987, 6:57 PM CDT (23:57 UTC)
Expired
May 25, 1987, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Pecos 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, 12.0 hours before the alert went out and 139 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 1987-05-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1266 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 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 1987-05-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 80 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMAF 252357
TORMAF
TXC371-260100-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
657 PM CDT MON MAY 25 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS
          ...NORTHERN PECOS
 
RADAR INDICATES A POSSIBLE FUNNEL CLOUD...OR TORNADO...ASSOCIATED
WITH A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM THAT IS SPREADING INTO NORTHERN PECOS
COUNTY AS OF 657 PM CDT.
 
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.
 
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, May 25, 4:35 PM CDT, 2 hours 22 minutes 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 25, 9:36 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEctor54 min
May 25, 10:03 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEctor57 min
May 25, 4:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFWard59 min
May 25, 5:03 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFLoving, Ward42 min
May 25, 5:51 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMAFWard99 min
May 25, 5:51 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFWard39 min
May 25, 6:36 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFWard54 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.