Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 12, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

May 17, 1986Lavaca County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this tornado warning at May 17, 1986, 4:35 PM CDT for Lavaca County, Texas. It was in force for 55 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 17, 1986, 4:35 PM CDT (21:35 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 1986, 5:30 PM CDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Lavaca 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, 9.6 hours before the alert went out and 59 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 1986-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1627 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Victoria Regiona, TX at 12:00Z on 1986-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 171 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1627 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-289 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
922 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
171 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
256 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KVCT 172135
TORVCT
TXC285-172230-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE VICTORIA TX
435 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 530 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

TEXAS...LAVACA

AT 430 PM CDT SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE ACROSS CENTRAL
LAVACA COUNTY. THESE ARE THE SAME THUNDERSTORMS THAT PRODUCED
TORNADOES OVER THE NORTHERN PART OF THE COUNTY. MOVEMENT
CONTINUES SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

FREQUENT LIGHTNING..STRONG DAMAGING WIND AND POSSIBLE HAIL MAY
ACCOMPANY THIS STORM.

PLEASE LISTEN TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO..TV..OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR
LATER STATEMENTS REGARWDING THIS SEVERE WEATHER EPISODE.

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 17, 1:14 PM CDT, 3 hours 21 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO TX
115 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 1986

...SEVERE WEATHER POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR SOUTH TEXAS...

DUE TO THE NUMEROUS OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES TAKING PLACE ACROSS SOUTH TEXAS
THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING..SUCH AS THE SWC BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
IN COLLEGE STATION..THE SWC TRACK & FIELD MEET IN HOUSTON..AND THE STATE
HIGH SCHOOL TRACK & FIELD MEET IN AUSTIN..AMONG OTHERS..THE NATIONAL
WEATHER SERVICE WOULD LIKE TO ALERT ALL WHO PLAN TO ATTEND ANY OF THESE
EVENTS THAT THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR SEVERE WEATHER.

A TORNADO WATCH EXISTS FOR A LARGE PORTION OF SOUTH AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS
UNTIL 7 PM CDT THIS EVENING..AND MAY BE EXTENDED FURTHER INTO THE NIGHT-
TIME HOURS.  THE METROPOLITAN AREAS OF AUSTIN..SAN ANTONIO..HOUSTON AND
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION ARE INCLUDED IN THE WATCH.

SEVERE WEATHER IN THE FORM OF TORNADOES..LARGE HAIL..FREQUENT LIGHTNING
AND DAMAGING WINDS HAVE ALREADY BEEN REPORTED IN SOME OF THE STORMS NOW
APPROACHING AUSTIN AND WACO.  THUNDERSTORMS ARE ABOUT AN HOUR AWAY FROM
BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION.

PERSONS SHOULD LISTEN TO LOCAL RADIO..TV OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO STATIONS
FOR THE LATEST WARNINGS..FORECASTS AND B:ULLETINS CONCERNING THIS SEVERE
WEATHER EVENT AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY ON SHORT
NOTICE.
Special weather statement, May 17, 3:30 PM CDT, 1 hour 5 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DEL RIO TX
330 PM CDT SAT MAY 17 1986

SOME AREAS HAVE BEEN CLEARED OF THE TORNADO WATCH ISSUED FOR SOUTH
CENTRAL TEXAS EARLIER..THIS INCLUDES VAL VERDE AND KINNEY COUNTIES OF
TEXAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH DOES CONTINUE EAST OF A KERRVILLE TO CRYSTAL CITY
LINE UNTIL 7 PM..ANOTHER TORNADO WATCH IS ALONG AND 50 STATUE MILES
EITHER SIDE O9F A LINE FORM 15 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF LAREDO TEXAS TO
20 MILES EAST NORTHEAST OF PORT ARTHUR TEXAS AND IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10
PM.

NO THUNDERSTORMS WERE IN THE AREA AS OF 330 PM CDT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 8:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXDimmit59 min
May 16, 8:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXLa Salle60 min
May 17, 9:29 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXLampasas, Mills, San Saba61 min
May 17, 11:24 AM CDTTornado WarningEWXBurnet, Williamson66 min
May 17, 11:39 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXLlano66 min
May 17, 11:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBurnet, Lampasas, San Saba62 min
May 17, 11:58 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXLlano62 min
May 17, 12:21 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXBlanco, Burnet, Llano69 min
May 17, 12:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXComal56 min
May 17, 12:52 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXTravis68 min
May 17, 1:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXWilliamson66 min
May 17, 1:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXHays67 min
May 17, 1:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBastrop, Lee66 min
May 17, 1:59 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBlanco, Hays3 hr
May 17, 1:59 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBurnet3 hr
May 17, 1:59 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBastrop, Lee, Travis, Williamson3 hr
May 17, 3:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXLavaca55 min
May 17, 3:31 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXGuadalupe59 min
May 17, 3:34 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXLavaca56 min
May 17, 3:40 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXBastrop65 min
May 17, 3:40 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXBastrop32 min
May 17, 3:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXDeWitt64 min
May 17, 3:48 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXGonzales72 min
May 17, 3:53 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXLavaca67 min
May 17, 3:59 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXDeWitt61 min
May 17, 4:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXWebb68 min
May 17, 4:40 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXVictoria80 min
May 17, 4:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXJackson, Victoria61 min
May 17, 5:17 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXGoliad43 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1986Every tornado warning in 1986Tornadoes 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.