Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 56, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

May 14, 1987Val Verde County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 14, 1987, 11:25 PM CDT for Val Verde County, Texas. It was in force for 65 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 14, 1987, 11:25 PM CDT (04:25 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 1987, 12:30 AM CDT
In force
65 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 00:00Z, 4.4 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 1987-05-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3535 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 1987-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 5 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
3535 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-29 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1144 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
5 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-12 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.1
Supercell composite
-0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDRT 150424
SVRDRT
TXC465-150530-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DEL RIO TX
1125 PM CDT THU MAY 14 1987

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1230 AM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY IN

SOUTHCENTRAL TEXAS...VAL VERDE

AT 1122 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 20 MILES
SOUTHWEST OF DEL RIO MOVING TOWARD DEL RIO AT 12 MPH. PEOPLE IN THE
DEL RIO AREA SHOULD TAKE COVER NOW.

SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 60
MPH..DESTRUCTIVE HAIL..DEADLY LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. FOR
YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR
HOME OR BUSINESS.B  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO DONT DRIVE
INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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 14, 5:28 PM CDT, 5 hours 57 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
525 PM CDT THU MAY 14 1987

WEATHER RADAR SHOWS A LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS FROM NORTHEAST OF
GEORGETOWN TO LAKE LBJ THEN SOUTHWEST TO NEAR FREDERICKSBURG.
STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE INDICATED NEAR FREDERICKSBURG... STONEWALL
MARBLE FALLS AND BERTRAM. THE MOST INTENSE THUNDERSTORM IS BETWEEN
GRANGER AND GEORGETOWN.

PEA TO MARBLE SIZE HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS ALONG WITH LOCALIZED
HEAVY RAIN IS A THREAT WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON.

THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING SLOWLY SOUTH.
Special weather statement, May 14, 6:31 PM CDT, 4 hours 54 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
525 PM CDT THU MAY 14 1987

WEATHER RADAR SHOWS A LONE... BUT INTENSE THUNDERSTORM A LITTLE
NORTHWEST OF JOHNSON CITY... NEAR SANDY. THIS STORM IS MOVING
ONLY VERY SLOWLY TO THE SOUTH AND AS A RESULT SOME LOCALIZED FLOODING
OF SMALL CREEKS AND LOW WATER CROSSINGS IS POSSIBLE IN BLANCO COUNTY
FOR THE NEXT HOUR OR SO.

EARLIER THIS EVENING... AROUND 5 PM GRANGER RECORDED A LITTLE OVER 1
INCH OF RAIN AND MARBLE SIZE COVERED THE GROUND.
Special weather statement, May 14, 6:34 PM CDT, 4 hours 51 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT... CORRECTED FOR TIME
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
625 PM CDT THU MAY 14 1987

WEATHER RADAR SHOWS A LONE... BUT INTENSE THUNDERSTORM A LITTLE
NORTHWEST OF JOHNSON CITY... NEAR SANDY. THIS STORM IS MOVING
ONLY VERY SLOWLY TO THE SOUTH AND AS A RESULT SOME LOCALIZED FLOODING
OF SMALL CREEKS AND LOW WATER CROSSINGS IS POSSIBLE IN BLANCO COUNTY
FOR THE NEXT HOUR OR SO.

EARLIER THIS EVENING... AROUND 5 PM GRANGER RECORDED A LITTLE OVER 1
INCH OF RAIN AND MARBLE SIZE COVERED THE GROUND.
Special weather statement, May 14, 7:15 PM CDT, 4 hours 10 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
710 PM CDT THU MAY 14 1987

WEATHER RADAR SHOWS THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DECREASED RAPIDLY OVER
CENTRAL TEXAS AREA DURING THE LAST HOUR AND ONLY LIGHWT SHOWERS
WAS LOCATED BETWEEN JOHNSON CITY AND MARBLE FALLS...ALSO NEAR BERTRAM.

THIS WILL BE THE LAST STATEMENT UNLESS THUNDERSTORMS REDEVELOPE OVER
THE CENTRAL TEXAS AREA.
Special weather statement, May 14, 11:09 PM CDT, 16 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO TX
1107 PM CDT THU MAY 14 1987

VERY HEAVY THUNDERSTORMS OVER MEXICO AROUND 30 MILES SOUTHWEST OF
DEL RIO ARE BUILDING SLOWLY TO THE NORTHEAST. IF THESE THUNDERSTORMS
CONTINUE TO BUILD TO THE NORTHEAST...THERE IS A POSSIBILITY THAT
A STORM COULD MOVE INTO THE CITY OF DEL RIO SOMETIME AFTER MIDNIGHT
TONIGHT.

STRONG GUSTY WINDS...LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND
SMALL HAIL CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS.

OTHER THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER MEXICO TO THE WEST AND SOUTHWEST
OF EAGLE PASS.

LITTLE MOVEMENT WAS NOTED OF THE INDIVIDUAL THUNDERSTORMS ALTHOUGH
THE AREA OF THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY APPREARS TO BE 9BUILDING TO THE
NORTH AND NORTHEAST.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 12:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXVal Verde75 min
May 15, 2:14 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXVal Verde61 min
May 15, 3:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXUvalde60 min
May 15, 4:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXUvalde30 min
May 15, 5:12 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXMedina48 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 1987Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1987

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.