Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 34, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

October 27, 1991Ector County, Midland County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at Oct 27, 1991, 4:28 PM CST for Ector County, Midland 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: Oct 27, 1991, 4:28 PM CST (22:28 UTC)
Expired: Oct 27, 1991, 5:30 PM CST
In force: 62 min
Issued by: NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area: Whole counties

Counties Ector County, TX, Midland County, TX

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Oct 27, 5:00 PM CST	Hail 1.75	Midland, TX
Oct 27, 5:04 PM CST	Hail 1.75	Ector, 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, 10.5 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.

Skew-T log-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 699 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -76 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 719 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 84 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 120 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.2
Supercell composite: 1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMAF 272238 COR
TORMAF
TXC135-329-272330-

BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING...CORRECTED FOR TIME
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
428 PM CST SUN OCT 27 1991

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  530 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS

   ...EASTERN ECTOR COUNTY...WESTERN MIDLAND COUNTY

AT 425 PM CST...A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS OBSERVED JUST NORTH OF THE CITY OF
ODESSA. RADAR INDICATED THIS STORM TO BE MOVING NORTH 20 MILES AN
HOUR. THIS UPGRADES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING PREVIOUSLY ISSUED.

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.

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, Oct 27, 3:52 PM CST, 36 minutes before

TXZ007-008-010>018-024-034-050>054-NMZ013-272250-
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
345 PM CST SUN OCT 27 1991

...TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO
UNTIL 900 PM CST...

AT 325 PM CST...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE SOUTHWEST OF
ODESSA...NEAR MERTZON...NEAR BRONTE...AND NORTHEAST OF ANDREWS. OTHER
SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS AND RAINSHOWERS STRETCHED FROM NEAR BLEDSOE TO
NEAR WELCH TO NEAR ROTAN AND REACHED AS FAR SOUTH AS OZONA.

MOVEMENT WAS NORTH 20 MILES AN HOUR.

DURING A TORNADO WATCH...BE READY TO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND OR TO
A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE IF A WARNING IS I4SSUED.

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

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 26, 8:28 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	MAF	Howard	62 min
Oct 27, 4:09 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	MAF	Ector, Midland	66 min
Oct 27, 5:34 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MAF	Andrews, Ector, Martin, Midland	56 min
Oct 27, 5:40 PM CST	Tornado Warning	MAF	Dawson	65 min

Nearby

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