Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1989

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 5, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

March 20, 1989Karnes County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 20, 1989, 10:38 PM CST for Karnes County, Texas. It was in force for 52 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued: Mar 20, 1989, 10:38 PM CST (04:38 UTC)
Expired: Mar 20, 1989, 11:30 PM CST
In force: 52 min
Issued by: NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area: Whole counties

County Karnes 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 00:00Z, 4.6 hours before the alert went out and 94 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 2294 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -99 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 860 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 27 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 69 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.4
Supercell composite: 2.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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, Mar 20, 5:52 PM CST, 4 hours 46 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO TX
545 PM CST MON MAR 20 1989

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF THE HILL
COUNTRY EXTENDING NORTHEAST INTO CENTRAL TEXAS...

A FAST MOVING COLD FRONT IS RAPIDILY MOVING TOWARDS THE SAN ANTONIO
AREA. THE COLD FRONT...ALONG ITS LEADING EDGE...HAS DEVELOPED A LINE
OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS. THE FRONT AT THIS TIME IS LOCATED
FROM JUST NORTHWEST OF AUSTIN TO NEAR KERRVILLE TO NEAR DEL RIO.

WHILE THE MOST INTENSE AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO FORM
TO THE NORTH OF THE SAN ANTONIO AREA THERE IS A POSSIBILITY OF BRIEF
HEAVY RAINS..SMALL HAIL...AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS UP TO 50 MPH AND
DANGEROUS LIGHTNING.

THE FRONT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE INTO THE BEXAR COUNTY AREA AROUND
730 PM CST.
ADDITIONAL STATEMENTS WILL BE ISSUED AS NEEDED.

Special weather statement, Mar 20, 6:17 PM CST, 4 hours 21 minutes before

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
610 PM CST MON MAR 20 1989

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR TRAVIS AND MOST
SUROUNDING COUNTIES IN CENTRAL TEXAS.  THIS WATCH IS IN EFFECT
INTIL 11 PM CST THIS EVENING.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING WAS BEEN ISSUED FOR MILAM COUNTY. A
THUNDERSTORM THAT PRODUCED 3/4 INCH HAIL AS IT MOVED ACROSS BELL
COUNTY HAS NOW MOVED INTO MILAM COUNTY.  THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WARNING IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 7 PM.

WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A FAST MOVING LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS  FROM
EAST OF THE WACO AREA SOUTHWESTWARD ACROSS GEORGETOWM AND JOHNSON
CITY.  THE STRONGEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE NORTH OF THE AUSTIN AREA
HOWEVER THIS LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS COULD PRODUCE STRONG GUSTY WINDS,
HAIL, AND HEAVY RAIN IN THE AUSTIN AND CENTRAL TEXAS DURNING THE
NEXT FEW HOURS HOURS.

Special weather statement, Mar 20, 9:13 PM CST, 1 hour 25 minutes before

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Special weather statement, Mar 20, 10:20 PM CST, 18 minutes before

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Special weather statement, Mar 20, 10:24 PM CST, 14 minutes before

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<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
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  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
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  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
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      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
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The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 20, 6:46 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EWX	Hays, Travis	34 min
Mar 20, 7:02 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EWX	Lee	58 min
Mar 20, 8:37 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EWX	Guadalupe	53 min
Mar 21, 6:45 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EWX	Travis	60 min
Mar 21, 7:29 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EWX	Bastrop, Lee, Travis, Williamson	46 min
Mar 21, 7:29 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EWX	Milam	46 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 1989 Every 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.