Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Lubbock, TX

July 26, 1988Lubbock County, Texas

NWS Lubbock, TX issued this tornado warning at Jul 26, 1988, 6:17 PM CDT for Lubbock County, Texas. It was in force for 28 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 26, 1988, 6:17 PM CDT (23:17 UTC)
Expired
Jul 26, 1988, 6:45 PM CDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Lubbock, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Lubbock 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

Amarillo Airport, TX (KAMA), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 180 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 12:00Z on 1988-07-26Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1501 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, Amarillo Airport, TX at 12:00Z on 1988-07-26The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -13 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1501 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-133 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1354 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-13 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
61 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 KLBB 262319
TORLBB
TXC303-262345-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
617 PM CDT TUE JUL 26 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LUBBOCK HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHWEST TEXAS
          ...SOUTHERN LUBBOCK
 
AT 614 PM CDT A TORNADO WAS REPORTED BY THE PUBLIC ABOUT 8 MILES WEST
OF THE COMMUNITY OF WOODROW IN SOUTHERN LUBBOCK COUNTY. MOVEMENT WAS
TO THE SOUTHWEST AT 5 MILES AN HOUR.
 
 
IF YOU LIVE IN A HOME OR APARTMENT...SEEK SHELTER IN THE
INNERMOST PORTION OF THE BUILDING ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  GET TO
A BASEMENT IF ONE IS AVAILABLE.  AVOID WINDOWS AND PROTECT YOUR
BODHY FROM FLYING DEBRIS WITH CUSHIONS...BLANKETS...OR PILLOWS.

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, Jul 26, 4:44 PM CDT, 1 hour 33 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
445 PM CDT TUE JUL 26 1988

     ...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ACROSS THE SOUTH PLAINS...

AT 442 PM CDT LUBBOCK RADAR SHOWED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...SOME
STRONG...DEVELOPING OVER CENTRAL AND EASTERN SECTIONS OF THE SOUTH
PLAINS.  LITTLE MOVEMENT WAS INDICATED.

THE STRONGER STORMS WERE LOCATED OVER FLOYD...KENT AND HOCKLEY
COUNTIES.

BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...SMALL HAIL AND GUSTY WIND
MAY BE EXPECTED IN THE STRONGER STORMS.

STAY TUNED TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATION...OR LISTEN TO NOAA
WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, Jul 26, 5:43 PM CDT, 34 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
543 PM CDT TUE JUL 26 1988

AT 540 PM CDT LUBBOCK RADAR SHOWED WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDER-
STORMS...SOME STRONG...ACROSS THE TEXAS SOUTH PLAINS. THE STRONGEST
THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED OVER CROSBY COUNTY...OR ABOUT 8 MILES NORTH-
WEST OF CROSBYTON.

ALL PRECIPITATION WAS MOVING TO THE SOUTHWEST AT 5 MPH.

BRIEF HEAVY RAIN...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...GUSTY WIND AND+ POSSIBLY SOME
SMALL HAIL MAY BE EXPECTED WITH PASSAGE OF THE STRONGER THUNDERSTORMS.

STAY TUNED TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATION...OR LISTEN TO NOAA
WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

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.