Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1988

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Shreveport, LA

April 1, 1988Rusk County, Texas

NWS Shreveport, LA issued this tornado warning at Apr 1, 1988, 5:13 PM CST for Rusk County, Texas. It was in force for 62 min. 2 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 1, 1988, 5:13 PM CST (23:13 UTC)
Expired
Apr 1, 1988, 6:15 PM CST
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Shreveport, LA
Area
Whole counties

County Rusk 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 1, 5:31 PM CSTHail 1Rusk, TX
Apr 1, 6:21 PM CSTHail 1Rusk, 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

Longview/Gregg, TX (KGGG), launched 12:00Z, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 31 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, Longview/Gregg, TX at 12:00Z on 1988-04-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 49 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, Longview/Gregg, TX at 12:00Z on 1988-04-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 173 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
49 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-181 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
794 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
173 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
240 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSHV 012314
TORSHV
ARC027-073-TXC401-020015-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
513 PM CST FRI APR 1 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SHREVEPORT HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  615 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS
          ...COLUMBIA...LAFAYETTE
IN NORTHEAST TEXAS
          ...RUSK
 
AT 515 PM CST THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICERADAR IN SHREVEPORT SHOWED
POSSIBLE TORNADOES NEAR MOUNT ENTERPRISE TEXAS AND NORTH OF BENTON
LOUISIANA. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST NEAR 25 MPH.
 
 
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 A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH ]OR CULVERT.

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, Apr 1, 1:21 PM CST, 3 hours 52 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
115 PM CST FRI APR 1 1988

THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY OVER THE WESTERN SECTIONS OF NORTH-
EAST TEXAS...SQUALL LINE EXPECTED TO FORM AND SPREAD EAST LATER.

STRONG AND POSSIBLE SEVERE STORMS WILL DEVELOP AND AFFECT NORTHEAST
TEXAS AND SOUTHEAST OKLAHOMA BY MID AFTERNOON AND EASTWARD ACROSS
THE REMAINDER OF THE ARKLATEX TONIGHT.

AT 115 PM CST THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN SHREVEPORT
SHOWED SCATTERED VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING FROM 40 MILES
NORTHWEST OF IDABEL OKLAHOMA TO NEAR HUGO ACROSS THE RED RIVER TO
NEAR SULPHUR SPRINGS TEXAS TO SOUTHWEST OF TYLER TO SOUTHWEST OF
PALESTINE TEXAS.

INITIALLY THESE cSTORMS WILL MOVE NORTH NORTHEAST..HOWEVER AN OLD SYSTEM
OVER NORTHCENTRAL TEXAS WAS MOVING EASTWARD AND AFTER MID AFTERNOON AN
OVERALL EASTWARD SHIFT ON THE NORTHEAST TEXAS STORMS WILL TAKE PLACE.
Special weather statement, Apr 1, 2:33 PM CST, 2 hours 40 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SHREVEPORT LA
230 PM CST FRI APR 1 1988

TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF NORTHEAST TEXAS...SOUTHEAST
OKLAHOMA...AND MUCH OF SOUTHWEST ARKANSAS.

ISOLATED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP OVER EASTERN OKLAHOMA
..SOUTHWARD ACROSS THE WESTERN SECTIONS OF NORTHEAST TEXAS. A SQUALL
LINE IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP WITH ISOLATED STRONG STORMS DEVELOPING
AHEAD OF THE SYSTEM THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. A FEW OF THESE STORMS
WILL REACH SEVERE INTENSITY AND RESIDENTS OF THE AREA SHOULD KEEP
POSTED ON THE LATEST BULLETINS ISSUED BY AREA WEATHER OFFICES.

AT 230 PM CST THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR IN SHREVEPORT WAS
SHOWING STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING RAPIDLY NORTH NORTHEAST SOUTHWEST
OF BATTIEST OKLAHOMA...SOUTHWEST OF IDABEL OKLAHOMA..BETWEEN LONGVIEW
TEXAS AND JEFFERSON AND FROM SOUTHWEST OF TYLER TO NORTHEAST OF
COLLEGE STATION.
.
THE STRONG STORMS APPOACHING IDABELL OKLAHOMA FROM THE SOUTHWEST
ARE INCREASING AT 2:30 PM AND MAY REACH SEVERE INTENSITY IN THE
NEXT HOUR.

INITIALLY THESE STORMS WILL MOVE NORTH NORTHEAST..HOWEVER AN OLD SYSTEM
OVER NORTHEAST TEXAS WAS MOVING SLOWLY EAST AND BY LATE AFTERNOON THE
STORMS OVER THE WESTERN SECTIONS OF NORTHEAST TEXAS WILL FORM INTO A
LINE AND A EASTWRD MOVEMENT OF THE NEW SYSTEM WILL TAKE PLACE.

THE STORM SYSTEM WILL SPREAD FROM WEST TO EAST ACROSS THE ARKLATEX
TONIGHT WITH A FEW SEVERE STORMS..ALSO VERY HEAVY RAINFALL IN A SHORT
PERIOD OF TIME MAY RESULT IN LOCALIZED FLOODING.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Shreveport, LA issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 1, 3:57 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVGregg63 min
Apr 1, 4:10 PM CSTTornado WarningSHVGregg, Harrison65 min
Apr 1, 4:10 PM CSTTornado WarningSHVMarion65 min
Apr 1, 4:31 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVPanola, Shelby59 min
Apr 1, 4:48 PM CSTTornado WarningSHVHarrison, Panola57 min
Apr 1, 5:05 PM CSTTornado WarningSHVHarrison, Marion70 min
Apr 1, 5:05 PM CSTTornado WarningSHVCass70 min
Apr 1, 5:43 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningSHVShelby62 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.