Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1989

Tornado Warning 25, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

May 17, 1989Val Verde County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this tornado warning at May 17, 1989, 2:00 AM CDT for Val Verde County, Texas. It was in force for 60 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 17, 1989, 2:00 AM CDT (07:00 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 1989, 3:00 AM CDT
In force
60 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 00:00Z, 7.0 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 00:00Z on 1989-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3533 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 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 00:00Z on 1989-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 55 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
3533 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1141 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
56 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
55 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
175 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.0
Supercell composite
4.8

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 tornado 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, 9:57 PM CDT, 4 hours 3 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO TX
955 PM CDT TUE MAY 16 1989

...THE TORNADO WATCH ISSUED EARLIER FOR THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY AND
ADJACENT PORTIONS OF THE EDWARDS PLATEAU EXTENDED UNTIL 400 AM...

THE TORNADO WATCH ISSUED EARLIER FOR THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY AND ADJACENT
EDWARD PLATEAU HAS BEEN EXTENDED UNTIL 400 AM EARLY WEDNESDAY MORNING.
THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED DURING THE EVENING HOURS OVER NORTHEASTERN
MEXICO AND HAVE MOVED INTO THE WESTERN TEXAS HILL COUNTRY AND EDWARDS
PLATEAU FROM DEL RIO TO JUNCTION.

AT 10 PM THUNDERSTORMS...SOME POSSIBLY SEVERE EXTENDED FROM VAL VERDE
COUNTY SOUTHWARD INTO MEXICO WEST OF KINNEY AND MAVERICK COUNTIES.

PERSONS IN THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY AND ADJACENT AREAS OF SOUTH CENTRAL
TEXAS AND THE EDWARDS PLATEAU ARE URGED TO REMAIN AWARE OF THE THREAT OF
SEVERE WEATHER AND HEAVY RAINS TONIGHT AND LISTEN FOR ANY REQUIRED
WEATHER UPDATES AND WARNINGS.
Local storm report, May 17, 12:08 AM CDT, 1 hour 52 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO TX
1210 AM CDT WED MAY 17 1989

TIME         EVENT
1151 PM CDT  GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL 4 MILES WEST OF BRACKETVILLE REPORTED
              BY THE KINNEY COUNTY SHERIFF.
Local storm report, May 17, 1:01 AM CDT, 59 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO TX
100 AM CDT WED MAY 17 1989

TIME         EVENT
1151 PM CDT  GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL 4 MILES WEST OF BRACKETVILLE REPORTED
              BY THE KINNEY COUNTY SHERIFF.
1208 AM CDT  CONSIDERABLE DAMAGE TO A RANCH HEADQUARTERS IN KINNEY
              COUNTY, BARN DAMAGE, HOUSE DESTROYED, REPORTED BY SHERIFF.
Special weather statement, May 17, 1:28 AM CDT, 32 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
0120 AM CDT WED MAY 17 1989

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 4 AM THIS MORNING FOR TRAVIS
AND ALL SURROUNDING COUNTIES OF CENTRAL TEXAS...

...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF THE HIIL COUNTRY...

AT 105 AM RADAR INDICATED THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO DEVELOPE NEAR DEL
RIO AND MOVE NORTHEAST. THIS AREA OF SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED
FROM NEAR EAGLE PASS AND DEL RIO NORTHEAST ACROSS THE HILL COUNTRY
ACROSS THE JUNCTION AREA TO NEAR BROWNWOOD AND STEPHENVILLE. THE MOST
INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE NEAR AND EAST OF DEL RIO.

THIS AREA OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT NEAR 30 MPH.

PERSONS IN THE CENTR-AL TEXAS AREA SHOULD CONTINUE TO KEEP A CLOSE
WATCH ON THE WEATHER AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND OR WARNINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 16, 7:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXVal Verde45 min
May 16, 9:35 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXVal Verde40 min
May 16, 10:15 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXVal Verde60 min
May 16, 10:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXKinney69 min
May 16, 11:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXEdwards60 min
May 16, 11:05 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXVal Verde40 min
May 16, 11:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXKinney66 min
May 17, 12:00 AM CDTTornado WarningEWXKinney45 min
May 17, 12:15 AM CDTTornado WarningEWXVal Verde60 min
May 17, 12:43 AM CDTTornado WarningEWXUvalde62 min
May 17, 1:05 AM CDTTornado WarningEWXVal Verde60 min
May 17, 2:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXKinney65 min
May 17, 5:39 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXKinney36 min
May 17, 6:44 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXUvalde46 min
May 17, 8:22 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXGillespie4 hr
May 17, 8:57 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXTravis, Williamson3 hr
May 17, 9:09 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXHays66 min
May 17, 9:46 AM CDTTornado WarningEWXWilliamson44 min
May 17, 9:50 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBurnet3 hr
May 17, 10:13 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBlanco, Hays3 hr
May 17, 11:51 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXLee, Milam3 hr
May 17, 11:51 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBastrop3 hr
May 17, 2:32 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXFayette118 min
May 17, 2:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXFayette58 min
May 17, 3:25 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBastrop, Fayette, Lee75 min
May 17, 3:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBurleson, Lee75 min
May 17, 3:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXFayette75 min
May 17, 4:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXDeWitt, Lavaca60 min
May 17, 5:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXGoliad, Victoria63 min
May 17, 6:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXGoliad57 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1989Every tornado warning in 1989Tornadoes 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.