Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 49, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

May 10, 1986Atascosa County, McMullen County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 10, 1986, 8:35 AM CDT for Atascosa County, McMullen County, Texas. It was in force for 55 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 10, 1986, 8:35 AM CDT (13:35 UTC)
Expired
May 10, 1986, 9:30 AM CDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Atascosa County, TX, McMullen 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

Victoria Regiona, TX (KVCT), launched 12:00Z, 1.6 hours before the alert went out and 163 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, Victoria Regiona, TX at 12:00Z on 1986-05-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2085 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, Victoria Regiona, TX at 12:00Z on 1986-05-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 116 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
2085 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-29 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
590 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
116 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
143 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.0
Supercell composite
6.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSAT 101335
SVRSAT
TXC013-311-101430-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO TX
835 AM CDT SAT MAY 10 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 
WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 930 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING 
COUNTIES OF

SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS...ATASCOSA AND MCMULLEN

AT 830 AM CDT..A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY RADAR ON THE
FRIO-LASALLE-ATASCOSA-MCMULLEN COUNTY LINE MOVING TOWARD THE EAST
AT 30 MPH.

FREQUENT LIGHTNING..STRONG DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL WILL
LIKELY OCCUR IN THIS STORM.  IN ADDITION..LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL
AND FLOODING OFTEN ACCOMPANY SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.

 A FLASH FLOOD WATCH I;S IN EFFECT FOR THE HILL COUNTRY..EDWARDS
 PLATEAU AND ADJACENT AREAS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS TODAY..INCLUDING
 ATASCOSA AND MCMULLEN COUNTIES.

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 10, 6:01 AM CDT, 2 hours 34 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
545 AM CDT SAT MAY 10 1986

...DENSE FOG DEVELOPING AROUND THE CAPITAL AREA...

YESTERDAYS AND LAST NIGHTS HEAVY RAINS LEFT A RIPE ENVIRONMENT FOR
FOG THIS MORNING.  MANY SPOTS COULD TEMPORAIRILY EXPERIENCE VISIBILITIES
BELOW 1 MILE EARLY THIS MORNING.

THE MAIN THREAT OR CONCERN IN TODAYS WEATHER IS NOT NECESSARILY THE
FOG.  WE HAD VERY HEAVY..FLASH FLOODING RAINS YESTERDAY OVER MANY PARTS
OF TRAVIS AND SURROUNDING COUNTIES.  THAT TOO LEAVES A DANGEROUS
ENVIRONMENT FOR ADDITIONAL FLASH FLOODING..ESPECIALLY IF THE LIKELIHOOD
FOR MORE HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS REMAINS FAIRLY HIGH..AND IT DOES TODAY.

MANY PEOPLE WILL BE TRYING TO ENJOY OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES..AND THAT PUTS
A GREAT MANY OF US IN DANGER OF BEING IN THE WRONG PLACE AT THE WRONG
TIME.  LAKES..RIVERS..CREEKS AND STREAMS COLLECT THE RUNOFF FROM
HEAVY RAINS.  BEING ON..NEAR..OR DRIVING BACK AND FORTH ACROSS THEM
MIGHT BE HAZARDOUS TO YOUR HEALTH.  WATCH THE WEATHER CLOSELY TODAY.
Special weather statement, May 10, 7:49 AM CDT, 46 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
755 AM CDT SAT MAY 10 1986

...HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS NORTHWEST OF AUSTIN...

JUST BEFORE 8AM..RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SHOWERS AND A FEW HEAVY THUNDER
STORMS FROM SOUTH OF WACO TO WEST OF GEORGETOWN AND LAKE TRAVIS AND ON
INTO THE HILL COUNTRY WEST OF FREDERICKSBURG.  THOSE SHOWERS AND THUNDER
STORMS WERE MOVING TOWARDS THE EAST AND NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

OTHER WIDESPREAD RAINS AND HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUED FROM EAST TO
SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST OF SAN ANTONIO. THEY WERE MOVING TOWARDS THE NORTH
EAST AT 25 MPH.

THE HIGHEST RAINFALL RATE..NEAR ONE INCH PER HOUR..WAS CENTERED OVER
THE EXTREME NORTHWESTERN CORNER OF WILLIAMSON COUNTY.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 9, 8:24 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBurnet, Lampasas, Travis, Williamson3 hr
May 9, 8:24 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBastrop3 hr
May 10, 7:09 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBandera, Edwards, Kerr, Real4 hr
May 10, 7:09 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXKendall4 hr
May 10, 7:31 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXFrio59 min
May 10, 10:00 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXGoliad60 min
May 10, 10:12 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXVictoria63 min
May 10, 11:16 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXCalhoun59 min
May 10, 11:32 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXCalhoun, Jackson68 min

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.