Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1986

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 85, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

October 11, 1986Val Verde County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 11, 1986, 1:15 AM CDT for Val Verde County, Texas. It was in force for 60 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Oct 11, 1986, 1:15 AM CDT (06:15 UTC)
Expired
Oct 11, 1986, 2:15 AM CDT
In force
60 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Oct 11, 2:00 AM CDTThunderstorm Wind 53Val Verde, TX

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Del Rio, TX (KDRT), launched 00:00Z, 6.3 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 00:00Z on 1986-10-11Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 384 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 00:00Z on 1986-10-11The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 215 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
384 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-148 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
776 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
215 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
287 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDRT 110612
SVRDRT
TXC465-110715-

BULETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DEL RIO TX
115 AM CDT SAT OCT 11 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 215 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY IN

SOUTHCENTRAL TEXAS...VAL VERDE

AT 110 AM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM  5 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF DEL RIO AND WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD PREPARE
FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH..LARGE HAIL AND DEADLY
LIGHTNING.  BOATERS ON LAKE AMISTAD SHOULD MOVE OFF THE LAKE TO
NEARBY SHELTER.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE STRONG BUILDINGS
BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

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, Oct 10, 10:13 PM CDT, 3 hours 2 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DEL RIO TX
1015 PM CDT FRI OCT 10 1986

AT  100O PM CDT A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING THOUGH VAL VERDE
COUNTY. ONLY WEAK THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED WITHIN THE COUNTY.

A STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 50 MILES WEST OF DEL RIO...IN
MEXICO.  THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT ABOUT 25 MILES
AN HOUR. IF THIS THUNDERSTORM MAINTAINS ITS CURRENT INTENSITY...VERY
STRONG GUSTY WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED AS THE STORM MOVES THOUGH THE
AREA.  BOATERS ON LAKE AMISTAD SHOULD SEEK SAFE HARBOR BEFOR THE
STORM ARRIVES.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD ALSO PRODUCE BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL..STRONG
LIGHTNING STRIKES. EVERYONE SHOULD MONITOR THE WEATHER...YO)UR
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL ISSUE ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS AS
CONDITIONS WARRANT.
Special weather statement, Oct 11, 12:38 AM CDT, 37 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DEL RIO TX
1240 AM CDT SAT OCT 11 1986

AT  1230 AM CDT MODERATE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING THOUGH DEL RIO.
A VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DEL
RIO...IN MEXICO. THIS THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT ABOUT 25
MILES AN HOUR.

VERY STRONG GUSTY WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED AS THE STORMS MOVES THOUGH
THE AREA. BOATERS ON LAKE AMISTAD SHOULD SEEK SAFE HARBOR.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS COULD PRODUCE BRIEF HEAVY RAINFALL AND STRONG
LIGHTNING STRIKES. EVERYONE SHOULD MONITOR THE WEATHER
CLOSELY AND BE PREPARED TO TAKE SHELTER IF NECESSARY.

YOUR NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WILL ISSUE ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS AS
CONDITIONS WARRANT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 11, 12:49 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXZavala61 min
Oct 11, 5:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXAtascosa60 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.