Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 36, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

October 27, 1991Dawson County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at Oct 27, 1991, 5:40 PM CST for Dawson County, Texas. It was in force for 65 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 27, 1991, 5:40 PM CST (23:40 UTC)
Expired
Oct 27, 1991, 6:45 PM CST
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Dawson County, TX

The nearest sounding before it

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 91 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 1991-10-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 699 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 1991-10-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 84 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
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 272341 RRA
TORMAF
TXC115-280045-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
540 PM CST SUN OCT 27 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTHWEST TEXAS
 
   ...DAWSON COUNTY
 
AT 539 PM CST...RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 12 MILES WEST OF
LAMESA. MOVEMENT WAS NORTH 25 MILES AN HOUR. THIS EXTENDS THE TORNADO
WARNING PREVIOUSLY ISSUED FOR DAWSON COUNTY.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

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, 1 hour 48 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 26, 8:28 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMAFHoward62 min
Oct 27, 4:09 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEctor, Midland66 min
Oct 27, 4:28 PM CSTTornado WarningMAFEctor, Midland62 min
Oct 27, 5:34 PM CSTTornado WarningMAFAndrews, Ector, Martin, Midland56 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.