Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 1, NWS El Paso, TX

February 27, 1990Jeff Davis County, Texas

NWS El Paso, TX issued this tornado warning at Feb 27, 1990, 2:42 PM CST for Jeff Davis County, Texas. It was in force for 48 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Feb 27, 1990, 2:42 PM CST (20:42 UTC)
Expired
Feb 27, 1990, 3:30 PM CST
In force
48 min
Issued by
NWS El Paso, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Jeff Davis 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, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 230 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 1990-02-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4 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 1990-02-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 83 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
4 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-227 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
831 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
83 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
53 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 KELP 272043
TORELP
TXC243-272130-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO TX
142 PM MST (242 PM CST) TUE FEB 27 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN EL PASO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  230 PM MST (330 PM CST)
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS
 
   ...JEFF.DAVIS COUNTY
 
A TORNADO HAS BEEN REPORTED NEAR VALENTINE TEXAS AND IS MOVING TO THE
NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. THE THUNDERSTORMS THAT PRODUCED THE TORNADO ARE
SHOWING SIGNS OF GAINING STRENGTH AND MAY PRODUCE ADDITIONAL TORNADOS.
 
 
DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF
A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

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

Local storm report, Feb 27, 2:40 PM CST, 2 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE EL PASO, TX
140 PM MST TUE FEB 27 1990

120 PM A SHORT LIVED TORNADO REPORTED APPROXIMATELY 15 MILES NORTHWEST
OF MARFA IN NORTHERN PRECIDIO COUNTY. NO DAMAGE OCCURRED.

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1990Every tornado warning in 1990Tornadoes in 1990

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.