Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1986

Tornado Warning 15, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

May 25, 1986Goliad County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this tornado warning at May 25, 1986, 6:11 PM CDT for Goliad County, Texas. It was in force for 64 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 25, 1986, 6:11 PM CDT (23:11 UTC)
Expired
May 25, 1986, 7:15 PM CDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Goliad 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, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 56 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 1986-05-25Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2210 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 1986-05-25The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 3 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
2210 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
557 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
72 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KVCT 252311
TORVCT
TXC175-260015-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED/EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED 
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE VICTORIA TX
611 PM CDT SUN MAY 25 1986

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING 
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 715 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY OF

TEXAS...GOLIAD

AT 610 PM CDT A TORNADO WAS REPORTED ON THE GROUND 3WNW OF
NAS GOLIAD MOVING TOWARD THE SE AT 15 MPH.

FREQUENT LIGHTNING..STRONG DAMAGIN4G WIND AND POSSIBLE HAIL MAY
ACCOMPANY THIS STORM.

PLEASE LISTEN TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO..TV..OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR
LATER STATEMENTS REGARDING 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 25, 1:52 PM CDT, 4 hours 19 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO TX
145 PM CDT SUN MAY 25 1986

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING ACROSS THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY AND IN
   PARTS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON...

DURING THE PAST HOUR..NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADARS HAVE BEEN PICKING
UP DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE HILL COUNTRY FROM ROCKSPRINGS TO
JUNCTION..AND NEAR CANYON LAKE..JUST NORTH OF SAN ANTONIO. REPORTS FROM
NEAR CANYON LAKE INDICATED WINDS GUSTING TO 45 MILES AN HOUR. ADDITIONAL
SHOWERS WERE INDICATED FROM BASTROP TO CORPUS CHRISTI AND VICTORIA.

CONDITIONS IN THE ATMOSPHERE ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE FORMATION OF
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND HEAVY RAIN THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT IN THE
TEXAS HILL COUNTRY AND ADJOINING AREAS.  DEEP GULF MOISTURE..WHICH HAS
MOVED OVER THE AREA..AND A DISTURBANCE IN THE UPPER ATMOSPHERE ARE
EXPECTED TO CAUSE THE STRONG THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP LATE TODAY.

SKIES OVER THE HILL COUNTRY AND AROUND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS ARE PARTLY

CLOUDY THIS AFTERNOON. WITH THE TEMPERATURE RISING INTO THE MID AND
UPPER 80S..RAPID DEVELOPMENT CAN BE EXPECTED. PLEASE MONITOR RADIO
TV OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS.

THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL LIKELY CONTAIN STRONG GUSTY WINDS WHICH COULD
CAPSIZE BOATS.  VERY HEAVY RAINS WILL ACCOMPANY THE THUNDERSTORMS AND
COULD CAUSE FLASH FLOODS ON SMALL STREAMS.

IF WEATHER CONDITIONS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP..FLASH FLOOD AND SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WATCHES MAY BE REQUIRED LATER TODAY FOR THE TEXAS
HILL COUNTRY AND ADJOINING AREAS.
Special weather statement, May 25, 3:55 PM CDT, 2 hours 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO TX
355 PM CDT SUN MAY 25 1986

   ...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO WESTERN BEXAR COUNTY...

HONDO RADAR INDICATES STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO WESTERN BEXAR
COUNTY. THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING TO THE EAST AT 10 MILES.
AT THIS RATE OF MOVEMENT..THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE OVER MUCH OF THE CITY
OF SAN ANTONIO WITHIN THE HOUR.

FREQUENT LIGHTNING..STRONG GUSTY WINDS..POSSIBLE HAIL AND VERY
HEAVY RAINFALL CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS.

MUCH OF SOUTH TEXAS..INCLUDING BEXAR COUNTY..IS UNDER A FLASH FLOOD
WATCH. THIS MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR FLASH FLOODING.
HEAVY RAINFALL CAN FLOOD UNDERPASSES..LOW WATER CROSSINGS AND
OTHER FLOOD PRONE AREAS. THEREFORE MOTORISTS ESPECIALLY ARE ADVISED
TO EXERCISE CAUTION SHOULD DRIVING BE NECESSARY THIS AFTERNOON AND
TONIGHT.

STAY TUNED TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO..TV..OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR OTHER
STATEMENTS OR WARNIsNGS WHICH WILL BE ISSUED AS NEEDED.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 24, 8:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXLampasas, Mills55 min
May 25, 5:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXVal Verde60 min
May 25, 6:50 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXVal Verde60 min
May 25, 4:28 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBexar4 hr

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.