Alert archive / Florida / Tornado Warnings in 1987

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Miami, FL

September 26, 1987Miami-Dade County, Florida

NWS Miami, FL issued this tornado warning at Sep 26, 1987, 3:42 PM EDT for Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was in force for 63 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 26, 1987, 3:42 PM EDT (19:42 UTC)
Expired
Sep 26, 1987, 4:45 PM EDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Miami, FL
Area
Whole counties

County Miami-Dade County, FL

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

Key West, FL (KEYW), launched 12:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 169 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, Key West, FL at 12:00Z on 1987-09-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2928 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, Key West, FL at 12:00Z on 1987-09-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 11 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
2928 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
725 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
11 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
4 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMIA 261942
TORMIA
FLC025-262045-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
342 PM EDT SAT SEP 26 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  445 PM EDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTHEAST FLORIDA
          ...EASTERN DADE
 
THE MIAMI BEACH PARTROL REPORTED A WATERSPOUT MOVED ONSHORE MIAMI
BEACH AT 46 STREET AT 340 PM.
IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES..YOU SHOULD GO TO A SAFE PLACE
IMMEDIATELY..AND YOU SHOULD ASK THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY
TO RELAY YOUR SEVERE WEATHER REPORTS TO THE LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER
SERVICE OFFICE.

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, Sep 26, 1:46 PM EDT, 1 hour 56 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
130 PM EDT SAT SEP 26 1987

AT 130 PM RADAR INDICATED NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH
VERY HEAVY RAIN CONTINUED TO DEVELOP BETWEEN CAPE SABLE...KEY LARGO
...AND OFFSHORE ELLIOT KEY. SOME OF THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS
ARE OVER SOUTHERN DADE COUNTY WHERE RESIDENTS AND BOATERS SHOULD BE
ALERT FOR STRONG GUSTY WINDS...OCCASSIONAL LIGHTING STRIKES...HEAVY
RAINFALL...AND ROUGH SEAS FOR THE NEXT COUPLE OF HOURS. THESE
STORMS ARE MOVING EAST AT 5 MILES AN HOUR.

ELSEWHERE...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN
EXTENDEDS FROM THE SOUTHEAST GULF WATERS TO THE MIDDLE KEYS AND INTO
THE ATLANTIC WATERS FROOM THE CAY SAL BANK TO THE BIMINI CHAIN.

SCATTERED SHOWERS WERE DEVELOPING ALONG THE COAST FROM WEST PALM BEACH
TO MIAMI.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, Sep 26, 2:47 PM EDT, 55 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
225 PM EDT SAT SEP 26 1987

AT 225 PM RADAR INDICATED SHOWERS AND STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED
OVER DADE COUNTY. RESIDENTES AND BOATERS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY SHOULD
BE ALERT FOR HEAVY RAINFALL...STRONG GUSTY WINDS...OCCASSIONAL LIGHTING
STRIKES...AND ROUGH SEAS. THE HEAVIEST OF THSE STORMS WERE FROM KENDALL
SOUTHWARD TO FLORIDA CITY...RESIDENTS OF THESE AREAS CAN EXPECT SOME
URBAN FLOODING AS THE STORMS MOVE SLOWLY EAST AT 5 MILES AN HOUR.

ELSEWHERE...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN
EXTENDED FROM THE SOUTHEAST GULF WATERS TO THE MIDDLE KEYS AND INTO
THE FLORIDA STRAITS OFFSHORE ALLIGATOR REEF.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 5 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, Sep 26, 3:39 PM EDT, 3 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIAMI FL
336 PM EDT SAT SEP 26 1987

AT 328 PM RADAR INDICATED SHOWERS AND STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED
OVER DADE COUNTY. RESIDENTES AND BOATERS THROUGHOUT THE COUNTY SHOULD
BE ALERT FOR HEAVY RAINFALL...GUSTY WINDS...OCCASSIONAL LIGHTING
STRIKES...AND ROUGH SEAS. SOME URBAN FLOODING IS OCCURRING AS THESE
STORMS MOVE SLOWLY TO THE EAST AT 5 MILES AN HOUR.

ELSEWHERE...SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN
WERE OCCURRING OVER THE SOUTHEAST GULF WATERS AND LOWER KEYS...FROM
EVERGLADES CITY TO NORTH OF LAKE OKEECHOBEE...AND OVER THE WESTERN
BAHAMAS.

MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 5 MILES AN HOUR.

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Florida, 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.