Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1988

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Corpus Christi, TX

July 3, 1988Jim Wells County, Texas

NWS Corpus Christi, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jul 3, 1988, 2:01 PM CDT for Jim Wells County, Texas. It was in force for 59 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 3, 1988, 2:01 PM CDT (19:01 UTC)
Expired
Jul 3, 1988, 3:00 PM CDT
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Corpus Christi, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Jim Wells 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, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 170 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 1988-07-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2553 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 1988-07-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -48 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2553 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
586 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
6 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-48 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-21 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCRP 031903
SVRCRP
TXC249-032000-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
201 PM CDT SUN JUL 3 1988
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CORPUS CHRISTI HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  300 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
          ...JIM WELLS
 
AT 157 PM CDT THE ALICE FLIGHT SERVICE STATION REPORTED A WIND GUST TO
67 MILES AN HOUR.
 
 
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
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.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T 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, Jul 3, 12:59 PM CDT, 1 hour 2 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
1255 PM CDT SUN JUL 3 1988

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO SOUTHERN PORTIONS OF THE COASTAL
   BEND...

AT 1250 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED AN AREA OF STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTHERN KLEBERG...SOUTHERN JIM WELLS...AND SOUTHERN
DUVAL COUNTIES. THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WAS OVER THE EXTREME WESTERN
PORTION OF BAFFIN BAY...10 MILES EAST OF RIVIERA...IN KLEBERG COUNTY.
MOVEMENT WAS NORTH AROUND 15 MILES AN HOUR.

PERSONS IN KLEBERG...JIM WELLS...AND DUVAL COUNTIES SHOULD BE ALERT
FOR LOCALLY VERY HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...
AND POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL THE NEXT 1 TO 2 HOURS. IN ADDITION BOATERS...
ESPECIALLY ON BAFFIN BAY...SHOULD BE ALERT FOR CHANGING WEATHER
CONDITIONS AND TAKE SAFE HARBOR IF THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL RADIO OR TELEVISION FOR
FURTHER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINEGS.
Special weather statement, Jul 3, 1:47 PM CDT, 14 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
145 PM CDT SUN JUL 3 1988

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER JIM WELLS...NUECES AND WESTERN KLEBERG
COUNTIES...

AT 140 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR SHOWED AN AREA OF STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS IN WESTERN KLEBERG...JIM WELLS AND NUECES COUNTIES. THE
STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE FROM ORANGE GROVE IN JIM WELLS COUNTY
EXTENDING SOUTH TO FREMONT AND RIVIERA. MOVEMENT WAS NORTH AROUND
15 MILES AN HOUR.

PERSONS IN KLEBERG...JIM WELLS...AND NUECES COUNTIES SHOULD BE ALERT
FOR LOCALLY VERY HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...
AND POSSIBLE SMALL HAIL THE NEXT 1 TO 2 HOURS. IN ADDITION BOATERS...
ESPECIALLY ON BAFFIN BAY AND LAKE CORPUS CHRISTI SHOULD BE ALERT FOR
CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND TAKE SAFE HARBOR IF THREATENING WEATHER
APPROACHES.

ALSO...PERSONS IN FLOOD PRONE AND LOW LYING AREAS OF JIM WELLS...

NUECES AND KLEBERG COUNTIES SHOULD REMAIN ALERT TO RISING WATERS
AND BE PREPARED TO MOVE QUICKLY TO HIGHER GROUND. MOTORISTS
SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS FLOODED LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL RADIO OR TELEVISION
FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Corpus Christi, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 3, 2:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPNueces, San Patricio55 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 1988Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1988

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.