Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 41, NWS Fort Worth, TX

October 1, 1988Bell County, Texas

NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this tornado warning at Oct 1, 1988, 8:41 PM CDT for Bell County, Texas. It was in force for 19 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 1, 1988, 8:41 PM CDT (01:41 UTC)
Expired
Oct 1, 1988, 9:00 PM CDT
In force
19 min
Issued by
NWS Fort Worth, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Bell 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

Stephenville/Cla, TX (KSEP), launched 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 144 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, Stephenville/Cla, TX at 00:00Z on 1988-10-02Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 737 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, Stephenville/Cla, TX at 00:00Z on 1988-10-02The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -12 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, Oct 1, 3:06 PM CDT, 5 hours 35 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, 4 hours 30 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, 4 hours 6 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, 3 hours 3 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 1, 7:13 PM CDTTornado WarningFWDMcLennan32 min
Oct 1, 7:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDKaufman55 min
Oct 1, 7:29 PM CDTTornado WarningFWDBell, Coryell31 min
Oct 1, 7:32 PM CDTTornado WarningFWDMcLennan28 min
Oct 1, 8:00 PM CDTTornado WarningFWDBell, McLennan30 min
Oct 1, 8:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDKaufman56 min
Oct 1, 8:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDMcLennan55 min
Oct 1, 8:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDHenderson, Van Zandt55 min
Oct 1, 9:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDRobertson38 min
Oct 1, 9:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDAnderson24 min
Oct 1, 9:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDCherokee64 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.