Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1987

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 63, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

May 16, 1987Webb County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 16, 1987, 8:32 AM CDT for Webb County, Texas. It was in force for 43 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 16, 1987, 8:32 AM CDT (13:32 UTC)
Expired
May 16, 1987, 9:15 AM CDT
In force
43 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Webb 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, 1.5 hours before the alert went out and 232 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 1987-05-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3199 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 1987-05-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 12 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
3199 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-11 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
585 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
12 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
54 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 KSAT 161332
SVRSAT
TXC479-161430-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO TX
832 AM CDT SAT MAY 16 1987
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 930 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH TEXAS
          ...WEBB
 
AT 830 AM CDT...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY RADAR 10 MILES
WEST OF LAREDO MOVING TOWARD THE EAST-NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...HAIL
3/4 INCH OR MORE IN DIAMETER...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY
RAIN.
 
YOU SHOULD ASK THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO RELAY YOUR
SEVERE WEATHER REPORTS TO THE LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.
 
PLEASE LISTEN TO YOUR LOCAL RADIO...TV OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO STATION
FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS REGARDING THIS SEVERE WEATHER EVENT.

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, 6:45 AM CDT, 1 hour 47 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO TX
645 AM CDT SAT MAY 16 1987

...SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING OVER EDWARDS PLATEAU...

AT 640 AM CDT THIS MORNING...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED
AN AREA OF SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...SOME PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAIN...
FROM JUST EAST OF DEL RIO TO NEAR LEAKEY TO UVALDE AND BACK TO NEAR DEL
RIO.  THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT NEAR 15 MILES AN HOUR.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINFALL AS THEY
CONTINUE ACROSS CENTRAL TEXAS.  LOW LYING AREAS AND POORLY DRAINED AREAS
MAY EXPERIENCE BRIEF FLOODING AS THE STORMS PASS.  IN ADDITION TO THE
HEAVY RAIN...SMALL HAIL AND BRIEF GUSTY WINDS ARE ALSO POSSIBLE.

MOTORISTS SHOULD USE EXTRA CAUTION WHEN TRAVELING IN OR NEAR THE MORE
INTENSE STORMS...VISIBILITY CAN DROP TO NEAR ZERO WITHOUT WARNING IN
THE HEAVY RAIN...AND THE GUSTY WINDS AND SLICK ROADS MAY MAKE DRIVING
EVEN MORE HNAZARDOUS.
Special weather statement, May 16, 7:30 AM CDT, 1 hour 2 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO TX
730 AM CDT SAT MAY 16 1987

SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL...WERE INDICATED
BY RADAR AT 725 PM FROM NEAR BRACKETTVILLE TO LEAKEY TO UVALDE AND BACK
TO BRACKETVILLE.  THE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

REPORTS FROM NEAR THE MORE INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS INDICATE VERY HEAVY
RAIN AND VERY FREQUENT LIGHTNING STRIKES.  NO SEVERE WEATHER HAS BEEN
REPORTED AT THIS TIME...BUT SMALL HAIL AND BRIEF GUSTY WINDS ARE
POSSIBLE.  BRIEF FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS AND POORLY DRAINED AREAS
MAY OCCUR AS THE STORMS MOVE EASTWARD...MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT
TO DRIVE INTO AREAS OF HIGH WATER.

LIGHTNING IS OF THE MOST FREQUENT CAUSES OF WEATHER RELATED DEATHS IN
SOUTH TEXAS.  FOR THE BEST PROTECTION FROM LIGHTING...MOVE INDOORS AWAY
FROM WINDOWS AND DOORS.  THE INSIDE OF A CAR OR BUS OR THE CAB OF A
TRUCK GIVES BETTER LIGHTNING PROTECTION THAN BEING OUTSIDE IN THE OPEN.
MOST OF ALL...DO NOT STAND NEAR TALL OBJECTS SUCH AS POLES OR TREES AND
STAY AWAY FROM METAL SUCH AS METAL SHEDS...FENCES...BIKES...TOOLS OR
SPORTS EQUIPMENT.  REMEMBER ALSO THAT LIGHTNING CAN BE DISCHARGED FROM
THE SIDE OF THE STORM OR EVEN THE HIGH CLOUD BLOWING OUT AHEAD OF THE
STORM...IT DOES NOT HAVE TO DEVELOP FROM UNDER THE THUNDERSTORM BASE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 8:26 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXFrio, Medina, Uvalde, Zavala64 min
May 16, 10:03 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXKerr57 min
May 16, 10:48 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBandera57 min
May 16, 10:59 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXKerr61 min
May 16, 11:34 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBexar, Comal, Kendall56 min
May 16, 11:49 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXGuadalupe56 min
May 16, 12:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXGonzales, Guadalupe59 min
May 16, 2:38 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXKarnes67 min
May 16, 2:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXDeWitt65 min
May 16, 3:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXGoliad32 min
May 16, 3:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXGoliad, Victoria63 min
May 16, 5:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXEdwards54 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.