Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 9, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

April 16, 1988Andrews County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 16, 1988, 7:24 PM CDT for Andrews County, Texas. It was in force for 66 min. 3 reports 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
Apr 16, 1988, 7:24 PM CDT (00:24 UTC)
Expired
Apr 16, 1988, 8:30 PM CDT
In force
66 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Andrews 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 16, 7:45 PM CDTHail 1Andrews, TX
Apr 16, 8:20 PM CDTHail 2Andrews, TX
Apr 16, 8:38 PM CDTHail 0.75Andrews, 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

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 00:00Z, 0.4 hours before the alert went out and 57 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 1988-04-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 584 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 1988-04-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 43 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
584 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-98 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2252 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
43 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
92 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.2

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 severe thunderstorm 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, Apr 16, 2:37 PM CDT, 4 hours 47 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
235 PM CDT SAT APR 16 1988

...TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PORTION OF WEST TEXAS AND
   FOR LEA COUNTY NEW MEXICO UNTIL 8 PM THIS EVENING...

AT 225 PM CDT THUNDERSTORMS...WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE INDICATED
FROM THE GUADALUPE PASS AREA TO WEST OF ARTESIA NEW MEXICO...AND FROM
SOUTH OF COAHOMA TEXAS TO SOUTHEAST OF LAMESA.

VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS LOCATED JUST NORTHWEST OF BIG SPRING TEXAS...
AND 10 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CARLSBAD CAVERNS IN NEW MEXICO.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HIGH WINDS...HAIL...
FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS...AND VERY DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 16, 8:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFAndrews60 min
Apr 16, 8:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEctor68 min
Apr 16, 9:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFMidland62 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 1988Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.