Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 8, NWS Brownsville, TX

May 1, 1986Hidalgo County, Kenedy County, Willacy County, Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 1, 1986, 6:12 PM CDT for Hidalgo County, Kenedy County, Willacy County, Texas. It was in force for 63 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 1, 1986, 6:12 PM CDT (23:12 UTC)
Expired
May 1, 1986, 7:15 PM CDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Brownsville, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Hidalgo County, TX, Kenedy County, TX, Willacy 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

Brownsville Intl, TX (KBRO), launched 12:00Z, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 88 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, Brownsville Intl, TX at 12:00Z on 1986-05-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1580 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, Brownsville Intl, TX at 12:00Z on 1986-05-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 108 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
1580 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-194 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1006 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
108 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
128 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBRO 012312
SVRBRO
TXC215-489-261-020015-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
612 PM CDT THU MAY 1 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 715 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES OF

EXTREME SOUTH TEXAS...NORTHERN HIDALGO...WILLACY AND SOUTHERN KENEDY

AT 615 PM CDT RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM LOCATED ABOUT 25
MILES NORTHWEST OF RAYMONDVILLE... MOVING SOUTH SOUTHWEST AT 20 TO
25 MILES AN HOUR.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH...
HAIL THE SIZE OF A PENNY OR LARGER...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY
HEAVY RAIN THAT CAN QUICKLY FLOOD STREETS AND FLOOD PRONE AREAS.

IMMEDIATE ACTION TO PROTECT MOVEABLE PROPERTY FROM POSSIBLE HAIL
DAMAGE SHOULD BE TAKEN IN THE WARNED AREA. TO AVOID INJURY FROM
FLYING GLASS/DEBRIS OR FROM LIGHTNING STRIKES...REMAIN INDOORS
AWAY FROM WINDOWS AND METAL SURFACES OR APPLIANCES/TELEPHONE/ETC.

IF YOU OBSERVE WIND DAMAGE...HAIL...OR FLOODING ... YOU SHOULD ASK
THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO RELAY THESE WEATHER REPORTS
TO THE BROWNSVILLE WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.

PLEASE LISTEN TO YOUR LOCAL, RADIO..TV..OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR
LATER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS REGARDING THIS DANGEROUS WEATHER
EPISODE.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 1, 3:50 PM CDT, 2 hours 22 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
350 PM CDT THU MAY 1 1986

AT 330 PM CDT A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED OVER THE UPPER END
OF FALCON LAKE ABOUT 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF ZAPATA.  THE THUNDERSTORM
WAS MOVING SOUTHWEST AT ABOUT 10 MPH AND COULD PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAIN...
BRIEF GUSTY WINDS... AND SMALL HAIL DURING THE NEXT HOUR.

WIDELY SCATTERED THUNDERSHOWERS WERE LOCATED WITHIN 40 MILES OF THE
COAST FROM 30 MILES NORTH OF RAYMONDVILLE NORTHWARD THROUGH THE CORPUS
CHRISTI AREA. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE SOUTH AT 15 MPH.

SCATTERED THUNDERSHOWERS WERE LOCATED IN A 30 MILE WIDE AREA OVER THE
GUKF FROM 70 MILES EAST OF BROWNSVILLE TO 80 MILES SOUT$HEAST OF
BROWNSVILLE. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 1986Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1986

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.