Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 101, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

May 14, 1989Val Verde County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 14, 1989, 3:45 PM CDT for Val Verde County, Texas. It was in force for 45 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 14, 1989, 3:45 PM CDT (20:45 UTC)
Expired
May 14, 1989, 4:30 PM CDT
In force
45 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 12:00Z, 8.8 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 12:00Z on 1989-05-14Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2241 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 1989-05-14The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 122 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
2241 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-17 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
616 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
122 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
159 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
6.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDRT 142045 COR
SVRDRT
TXC465-120610-

BULETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED...CORRECTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DEL RIO TX
345 PM CDT SUN MAY 14 1989

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL 430 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY IN

SOUTHCENTRAL TEXAS...VAL VERDE

AT 325 PM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 40 MILES
NORTHWEST OF DEL RIO ON THE RIO GRANDE NEAR LANGTRY MOVING EAST AT 10
MPH. ANOTHER VERY STRONG THUNDERSTORM WAS LOCATED 75 MILES NORTHWEST
OF DEL RIO NEAR THE PECOS RIVER IN NORTHWEST VAL VERDE COUNTY AND ALSO
MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH.

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. HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO DONT DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE
WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

LISTEN TO YOUR NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL RADIO STATIONS AND LOCAL
CABLE TV FOR LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

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, 3:14 PM CDT, 31 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DEL RIO TX
315 PM CDT SUN MAY 14 1989

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR VAL VERDE COUNTY UNTIL 10 PM CDT...

AN INTENSE THUNDERSTORM HAS DEVELOPED NEAR LANGTRY IN SOUTHWEST VAL
VEDE COUNTY...55 MILES NORTHWEST OF DEL RIO DURING THE LAST HOUR AND A
HALF. A STORM OF THIS INTENSITY IS CAPABLE OF PRODUCING HAIL DANGEROUS
LIGHTING AND STRONG WINDS. LITTLE MOVEMENT HAS BEEN SHOWN BY THIS
INTENSE THUNDERSTORM IN THE PAST HOUR. THIS COULD LEAD TO HEAVY RAINS
AND A RAPID RISE OF WATER IN STREAMS AND AT LOW WATER CROSSING.

BOATERS AND RECREATIONISTS ON THE LOWER PECOS AND RIO GRANDE NEAR
LANGTRY SHOULD LEAVE THE WATER IMMEDIATELY. MOTORISTS TRAVELLING ON
HIGHWAY 90 IN WEST VAL VERDE COUNTY NEAR LANGTRY SHOULD EXPECT TO MEET
WITH STRONG WINDS VERY HEAVY POSSIBLY BLINDING RAIN AND HAIL FROM THIS
STORM. LOW VISIBILITY SLICK ROADS AND POOR BRAKING CONDITIONS CAN BE
EXPECTED WHILE DRIVING NEAR THIS THUNDERSTORM.

SHOULD A TORNADO BE SIGHTED...THE BEST SHELTER IS FOUND ON THE
LOWEST LEVEL OF A HOME OR WELL BUILT BUILDING. PICK A SMALL ROOM IN
THE CENTER F THE BUILDING SUCH AS A SMALL CLOSET...BATHROOM OR HALLWAY.
STAY AWAY FROM ANY WINDOWS OR OUTSIDE WALLS.

DO NOT STAY IN A VEHICLE OR MOBILE HOME AS THEY ARE EASILY TOSSED AND
ROLLED BY HIGH WINDS. BOATERS ON AREA LAKES AN RIVERS SHOULD CONSIDER
TAKING SAFETY PRECAUTIONS BEFORE THREATENING WEATHER APPROACHES.
REMEMBER...MOST WEAHER RELATED DEATHS IN SOUTH TEXAS ARE DUE TO LIGHTING
AND FLASH FLOODING.

LISTEN TO COMMERCIAL RADIO...TV...OR WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER
INFORMATION.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 13, 7:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXFayette69 min
May 13, 7:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXGonzales62 min
May 13, 8:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXGonzales60 min
May 13, 9:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXLavaca41 min
May 14, 1:35 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXGoliad60 min
May 14, 4:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXVal Verde60 min
May 14, 6:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXMaverick61 min
May 14, 6:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXVal Verde55 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.