Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

May 7, 1991Borden County, Howard County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at May 7, 1991, 7:29 PM CDT for Borden County, Howard County, Texas. It was in force for 46 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
May 7, 1991, 7:29 PM CDT (00:29 UTC)
Expired
May 7, 1991, 8:15 PM CDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Borden County, TX, Howard County, TX

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 7, 7:53 PM CDTHail 2.5Howard, TX
May 7, 8:25 PM CDTHail 1.75Howard, 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, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 96 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 1991-05-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 700 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 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 1991-05-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 113 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
700 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-64 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2207 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
60 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
113 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
288 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
5.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMAF 080030
TORMAF
TXC033-227-080115-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
729 PM CDT TUE MAY 7 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  815 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHWEST TEXAS
 
   ...BORDEN COUNTY...HOWARD COUNTY
 
AT 725 PM CDT...SPOTTERS REPORTED A TORNADO NEAR ACKERLY...
AND ALSO 15 MILES NORTH OF BIG SPRING. RADAR INDICATED THESE
STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 10 MILES AN HOUR.
 
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

Special weather statement, May 7, 5:09 PM CDT, 2 hours 20 minutes before
TXZ007-008-010>018-024-034-050>054-NMZ013-072240-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY...COR...
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
435 PM CDT TUE MAY 7 1991

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PART OF NORTHWEST
   TEXAS UNTIL 900 PM CDT TONIGHT...

...AT 425 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED THAT AN AREA OF SCATTERED THUNDER-
STORMS...SOME WITH HEAVY RAINFALL...EXTENDED FROM NORTHWEST OF LUBBOCK
TO ANDREWS. THE HEAVIEST RAINFALL WAS NORTHWEST OF LAMESA. MOVEMENT
WAS TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

RESIDENTS OF LAMESA SHOULD BE PREARED FOR THE THUNDERSTORMS NORTHWEST
OF LAMESA...AND LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL...AND POSSIBLY SOME HAIL.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TELEVISION
STATION FOR FURTHER INFORMATION...OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, May 7, 5:48 PM CDT, 1 hour 41 minutes before
TXZ007-008-010>018-024-034-050>054-NMZ013-082240-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
540 PM CDT TUE MAY 7 1991

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PART OF NORTHWEST
   TEXAS UNTIL 900 PM CDT TONIGHT...

AT 525 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED THAT AN AREA OF SCATTERED THUNDER-
STORMS...SOME WITH HEAVY RAINFALL...EXTENDED FROM HEREFORD...TO LUBBOCK
...TO SOUTH OF LAMESA. HEAVY RAINFALL AND POSSIBLY SOME SMALL HAIL...
WAS LOCATED NEAR LAMESA. THEY WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR.

AT 539 PM CDT...THE LAMESA SHERRIFF REPORTED THAT PEA TO MARBLE SIZE
...AND HEAVY RAINFALL...HAD JUST BEGUN IN THE CITY OF LAMESA

STAY TUNED TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TELEVISION STATION...OR NOAA
WEATHER RADIO FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS...AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 7, 8:19 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFHoward41 min
May 7, 9:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFHoward43 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1991Every tornado warning in 1991Tornadoes in 1991

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.