Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 59, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

May 16, 1986Val Verde County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 16, 1986, 3:28 PM CDT for Val Verde County, Texas. It was in force for 62 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 16, 1986, 3:28 PM CDT (20:28 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 1986, 4:30 PM CDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Val Verde 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

Del Rio, TX (KDRT), launched 12:00Z, 8.5 hours before the alert went out and 66 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, Del Rio, TX at 12:00Z on 1986-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2678 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, Del Rio, TX at 12:00Z on 1986-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 201 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
2678 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-86 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
540 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
201 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
318 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.6
Supercell composite
14.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDRT 162128
SVRDRT
TXC465-162130-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DEL RIO TX
328 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1986 

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM  WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 830 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY IN

SOUTHCENTRAL TEXAS...VAL VERDE.

AT 327 PM CDT A VIOLENT THUNDERSTORM WAS 10 MILES WEST OF DEL RIO
INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT. THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 10 MPH.
THE LEADING EDGE OF THIS STORM SHOULD BE IN THE DEL RIO AREA WITHIN
THE HOUR.

THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS STORM.  PEOPLE IN ITS PATH SHOULD MOVE TO A
REINFORCED SHELTER IMMEDIATELY AND BE PREPARED FOR LARGE
HAIL..DAMAGING WINDS..HEAVY RAINS AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING.

TO REPORT LARGE HAIL OR DAMAGING WINDS..ASK THE NEAREST LAW
ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NEAREST NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.

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 16, 3:07 PM CDT, 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DEL RIO TX
306 PM CDT FRI MAY 16 1986

 ...DANGEROUS THUNDERSTORMS IN THE DEL RIO AREA...

AT 305 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A INTENSE THUNDERSTORM 20 MILES WEST OF
THE DEL RIO INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT.  MGVEMENT WAS TOWARDS THE EAST AT
10 MILES AN HOUR.

THIS STORM IS APPROACHING THE SEVERE..PERSONS IN THE CITY OF DEL RIO
AND VICINITY SHOULD BE PREPARED FOR HEAVY RAIN..SMALL HAIL..STRONG
WINDS AND FREQUENT LIGHTNING WITH THIS STORM.

YOU SHOULD LISTEN TO LOCAL RADIO STATIONS AND NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE
RADIO SINCE THIS STORM IS INCREASING RAPIDLY A SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
WARNING MAY BE ISSUED ON VERY SHORT NOTICE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 4:55 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXVal Verde65 min
May 16, 6:54 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXDimmit66 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.