Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1988
Tornado Warning 6, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at May 19, 1988, 6:25 PM CDT for Ector County, Midland County, Texas. It was in force for 65 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
- May 19, 1988, 6:25 PM CDT (23:25 UTC)
- Expired
- May 19, 1988, 7:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 65 min
- Issued by
- NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Ector County, TX, Midland 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 19, 6:50 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Midland, 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 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 12 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KMAF 192325
TORMAF
TXC135-329-200030-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
625 PM CDT THU MAY 19 1988
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 730 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS
...EASTERN ECTOR...MIDLAND
AT 620 PM A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS TO THE SOUTHWEST OF THE INTERNATIONAL
AIRPORT. A LOUD ROARING COULD BE HEARD FROM THE WEATHER OFFICE. THIS
STORM IS MOVING EAST AT 25 TO 30 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL BE APROACHING
THE AIRPORT AND THE CITY OF MIDLAND DURING THE NEXT FEW MINUTES.
PERSONS LIVING NEAR THE INTERSTATE AND HIGHWAY 80 SHOULD TAKE COVER AT
THIS TIME AND OTHERS SHOULD PREPARE TO TAKE COVER NOW.
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 AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS AI 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 18, 7:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Reeves | 49 min |
| May 18, 8:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Reeves | 66 min |
| May 18, 9:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Reeves | 48 min |
| May 19, 5:11 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Upton | 64 min |
| May 19, 6:10 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | MAF | Ector, Midland, Upton | 65 min |
| May 19, 6:12 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | MAF | Andrews | 48 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.