Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 39, NWS Fort Worth, TX
NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this tornado warning at Oct 1, 1988, 7:32 PM CDT for McLennan County, Texas. It was in force for 28 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
- Oct 1, 1988, 7:32 PM CDT (00:32 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 1, 1988, 8:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 28 min
- Issued by
- NWS Fort Worth, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County McLennan 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 7:55 PM CDT | Hail 1 | Mclennan, 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
Stephenville/Cla, TX (KSEP), launched 00:00Z, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 113 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
- 737 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -37 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1646 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 38 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -12 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 109 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 KACT 020033
TORACT
TXC309-020100-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WACO TX
732 PM CDT OCT 1 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WACO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 800 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS
...MCLENNAN
AT 730 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO JUST
NORTHEAST OF MADISON-COOPER AIRPORT IN WACO. MOVEMENT
WAS SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH.5What 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, Oct 1, 3:06 PM CDT, 4 hours 26 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WICHITA FALLS TX 305 PM CDT SAT OCT 1 1988 AT 305 PM CDT...WICHITA FALLS RADAR SHOWED A RAPIDLY DEVELOPING LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS STRETCHING FROM JUST NORTH OF OKLAHOMA CITY THROUGH DUNCAN OK...SOUTHWEST TO ARCHER CITY TEXAS. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED OVER LAKE ARROWHEAD WHICH IS JUST SOUTH OF WICHITA FALLS. THIS THUNDERSTORM IS PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS AND POSSIBLY SMALL HAIL. BOATERS ON LAKE ARROWHEAD SHOULD SEEK SAFETY IMMEDIATELY. THUNDERSTORM MOVEMENT WAS EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, Oct 1, 4:11 PM CDT, 3 hours 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX 410 PM CDT SAT OCT 01 1988 AT 410 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADARS INDICATED TWO INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS. ONE THUNDERSTORM WAS NORTHWEST OF DECATUR ON THE WISE-JACK COUNTY LINE. THE SECOND THUNDERSTORM WAS NORTH OF MONTAGUE ON THE RED RIVER. THESE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST SOUTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR. THE CITIES OF DECATUR AND GAINESVILLE WILL BE UNDER OR NEARLY UNDER THESE INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS BY 445 PM CDT. STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, Oct 1, 4:35 PM CDT, 2 hours 57 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WACO TX 429 PM CDT SAT OCT 1 1988 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR BOSQUE...HILL...CORYELL...MCLENNAN AND LIMESTONE COUNTIES UNTIL 9 PM CDT... AT 428 PM CDT THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE DEVELOPING FROM DALLAS TO COLEMAN. NO RAIN WAS NOTED IN ANY OF THE ABOVE MENTIONED COUNTIES. HOWEVER... THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP AND MOVE INTO HILL AND BOSQUE COUNTIES WITHIN THE NEXT! HOUR OR SO. THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE IN RESPONSE TO A WIND SHIFT LINE MOVING THROUGH NORTH AND CENTRAL TEXAS DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. 05
Special weather statement, Oct 1, 5:38 PM CDT, 1 hour 54 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WACO TX 531 PM CDT SAT OCT 1 1988 ...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR BOSQUE...HILL...CORYELL...MCLENNAN AND LIMESTONE COUNTIES UNTIL 9 PM CDT... AT 529 PM CDT THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE CONTINUING TO DEVELOP ALONG A LINE FROM CLEBURNE TO WEST OF HICO. RAIN WAS NOTED IN NORTHERN BOSQUE COUNTY AND ALSO BEGINNING TO MOVE INTO NORTHWESTERN HILL COUNTY. THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN...POSSIBLY SOME LARGE HAIL...STRONG GUSTY WIND AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING CAN BE EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO BOSQUE DURING THE NEXT FEW MINUTES ESPECIALLY THE EXTREME NORTHERN PART OF THE COUNTY. THE THUNDERSTORMS ARE IN RESPONSE TO A WIND SHIFT LINwE MOVING THROUGH NORTH AND CENTRAL TEXAS DURING THE LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. 05
The office that day
Everything else NWS Fort Worth, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 1, 7:13 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FWD | McLennan | 32 min |
| Oct 1, 7:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Kaufman | 55 min |
| Oct 1, 7:29 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FWD | Bell, Coryell | 31 min |
| Oct 1, 8:00 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FWD | Bell, McLennan | 30 min |
| Oct 1, 8:19 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Kaufman | 56 min |
| Oct 1, 8:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | McLennan | 55 min |
| Oct 1, 8:35 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Henderson, Van Zandt | 55 min |
| Oct 1, 8:41 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | FWD | Bell | 19 min |
| Oct 1, 9:07 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Robertson | 38 min |
| Oct 1, 9:41 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Anderson | 24 min |
| Oct 1, 9:41 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | FWD | Cherokee | 64 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1988Every tornado warning in 1988Tornadoes in 1988
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.