Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Lubbock, TX

May 15, 1995Garza County, Texas

NWS Lubbock, TX issued this tornado warning at May 15, 1995, 8:40 PM CDT for Garza County, Texas. It was in force for 50 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 15, 1995, 8:40 PM CDT (01:40 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 1995, 9:30 PM CDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Lubbock, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Garza County, TX

The radar

The Lubbock radar (KLBB), 71 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:42 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 161 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 1995-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1536 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 00:00Z on 1995-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 72 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1536 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-146 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
2107 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
72 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
105 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
4.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KLBB 160140
TORLBB
TXC169-160230-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
840 PM CDT MON MAY 15 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LUBBOCK HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  930 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN NORTHWEST TEXAS
 
   ...NORTHERN GARZA COUNTY
 
AT 835 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
POSSIBLE TORNADO IN NORTHERN GARZA COUNTY NEAR THE COMMUNITY OF
SOUTHLAND...ABOUT 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF POST. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST
AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.
 
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, May 15, 3:35 PM CDT, 5 hours 5 minutes before
TXZ027>043-152140-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE LUBBOCK TX
335 PM CDT MON MAY 15 1995

...SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER THE WESTERN SOUTH PLAINS...

AT 332 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER EASTERN NEW MEXICO AND
THE WESTERN SOUTH PLAINS.  THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED NEAR
THE BAILEY-LAMB COUNTY BORDER FIVE MILES WEST OF SUDAN.  THIS STORM WAS
MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL MOVE NEAR SPRINGLAKE
BY 4 PM.

THIS STORM MAY PRODUCE BRIEF HEAVY RAIN, FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND HAIL AS
IT PASSES OVERHEAD.

AT SIGNS OF AN IMPENDING STORM...DARKENING SKIES...LIGHTNING AND
INCREASING WIND...MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY.  TUNE IN NOAA WEATHER
RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATION FOR THE LATEST WEATHER
INFORMATION.

JW

The office that day

Everything else NWS Lubbock, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 7:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBCrosby, Floyd47 min
May 15, 7:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBLubbock46 min
May 15, 7:42 PM CDTTornado WarningLUBMotley33 min
May 15, 8:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBDickens47 min
May 15, 8:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningLUBMotley44 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1995Every tornado warning in 1995Tornadoes in 1995

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.