Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

May 19, 1988Andrews County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at May 19, 1988, 6:12 PM CDT for Andrews County, Texas. It was in force for 48 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 19, 1988, 6:12 PM CDT (23:12 UTC)
Expired
May 19, 1988, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
48 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 12:00Z, 11.2 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 12:00Z on 1988-05-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 11 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 12:00Z on 1988-05-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 6 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
11 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-260 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1277 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
36 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMAF 192312
TORMAF
TXC003-200000-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
612 PM CDT THU MAY 19 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  700 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN NORTHWEST TEXAS
          ...EASTERN ANDREWS
 
AT 605 PM CDT THE ANDREWS AIRPORT TOWER PERSONNEL REPORTED A TORNADO
ON THE GROUND 5 MILES NORTHEAST OF ANDREWS IN ANDREWS COUNTY. THE
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH THE TORNADO IS MOVING EAST AT 25 TO 30 MILES
AND HOUR.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABL*E...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 7:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFReeves49 min
May 18, 8:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFReeves66 min
May 18, 9:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFReeves48 min
May 19, 5:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFUpton64 min
May 19, 6:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEctor, Midland, Upton65 min
May 19, 6:25 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFEctor, Midland65 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.