Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 2, NWS Brownsville, TX

April 29, 1989Starr County, Zapata County, Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 29, 1989, 7:43 PM CDT for Starr County, Zapata County, Texas. It was in force for 62 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 29, 1989, 7:43 PM CDT (00:43 UTC)
Expired
Apr 29, 1989, 8:45 PM CDT
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Brownsville, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Starr County, TX, Zapata 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

Brownsville Intl, TX (KBRO), launched 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 183 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, Brownsville Intl, TX at 00:00Z on 1989-04-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3275 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, Brownsville Intl, TX at 00:00Z on 1989-04-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -3 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
3275 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-40 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
753 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
39 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 KBRO 300045
SVRBRO
TXC427-505-300145-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
743 PM CDT  APR 29 1989
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BROWNSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  845 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
 
IN SOUTH TEXAS
          ...WESTERN STARR...SOUTHERN ZAPATA
 
AT 730 PM RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM JUST NORTH OF ROMA MOVING
NORTH AT 30 MPH.
 
ROMA POLICE REPORTED HAIL... DAMAGING WINDS... AND VERY HEAVY RAIN
FROM THIS THUNDERSTORM BETWEEN 700 AND 730 PM.
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND V$ERY 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, Apr 29, 6:03 PM CDT, 1 hour 40 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
600 PM CDT SAT APR 29 1989

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FROM 600 PM UNTIL 12
MIDNIGHT CDT FOR ALL OF THE RIO GRANDE VALLEY INCLUDING THE EXTREME
SOUTH TEXAS COUNTIES OF CAMERON...WILLACY...KENEDY...HIDALGO...STARR...
BROOKS...JIM HOGG...AND ZAPATA....

AT 530 PM CDT...BROWNSVILLE WEATHER RADAR INDICATED SEVERAL THUNDERSTORMS
...SOME WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN EXTENDING FROM NORTH AND EAST OF LAREDO
ACROSS THE RIVER INTO MEXICO FROM 125 TO BEYOND 200 MILES WEST OF
BROWNSVILLE. OTHER THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED 60 TO 120 MILES SOUTHWEST
OF BROWNSVILLE AND THESE THUNDERSTORMS CONTAINED EXTREMELY HEAVY RAIN.
LITTLE MOVEMENT WAS INDICATED DURING THE PAST HOUR BUT THE STORMS WERE
GROWING RAPIDLY AND SPREADING OUT TO COVER WIDER AREAS.

CONDITIONS REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND STRENGTHENING OF
THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING ACROSS DEEP SOUTH> TEXAS AND PERSONS SHOULD
STAY TUNED TO LOCAL NEWS SOURCES FOR THE LATEST INFORMATION.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 29, 8:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROJim Hogg60 min
Apr 29, 8:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROJim Hogg, Zapata62 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 1989Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1989

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.