Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 8, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

May 25, 1987Crane County, Ward County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at May 25, 1987, 7:32 PM CDT for Crane County, Ward County, Texas. It was in force for 58 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 25, 1987, 7:32 PM CDT (00:32 UTC)
Expired
May 25, 1987, 8:30 PM CDT
In force
58 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Crane County, TX, Ward 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 00:00Z, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 79 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 1987-05-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1608 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 1987-05-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 15 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
1608 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-49 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
900 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
15 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
99 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 260032 RRB
TORMAF
TXC103-135-475-260130-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING...CORRECTION...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
732 PM CDT MON MAY 25 1987
 
...CORRECTION...
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS
          ...CRANE...WARD
 
A TORNADO IS REPORTED ON THE GROUND...APPROACHING MONAHANS...AT 732
PM CDT. RADAR INDICATES THIS STORM MAY ENTER CRANE COUNTY...DURING
THE NEXT 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 BODY.  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

Special weather statement, May 25, 4:35 PM CDT, 2 hours 57 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 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, 5:21 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFEctor54 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.