Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1989
Tornado Warning 6, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this tornado warning at May 5, 1989, 12:23 AM CDT for San Saba County, Texas. It was in force for 52 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- May 5, 1989, 12:23 AM CDT (05:23 UTC)
- Expired
- May 5, 1989, 1:15 AM CDT
- In force
- 52 min
- Issued by
- NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County San Saba 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
Stephenville/Cla, TX (KSEP), launched 00:00Z, 5.4 hours before the alert went out and 137 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 3113 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -9 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1229 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 42 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 47 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 132 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.0
- Supercell composite
- 8.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KAUS 050525
TORAUS
TXC411-050615-
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
1223 AM CDT FRI MAY 5 1989
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 115 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS
...EASTERN SAN SABA
RADAR INDICATED ATTORNADO ABOUT 5 MILES EAST OF SAN SABA MOVING TOWARD
THE SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH. PERSONS IN BURNET COUNTY SHOULD STAY ALERT TO
CHANGING CONDITIONS AS THIS STORM COULD MOVE INTO BURNET COUNTY.
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.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 4, 9:51 PM CDT, 2 hours 32 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO TX 950 PM CDT THU MAY 4 1989 ...STRONG WINDS AND THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTH TEXAS LATE TONIGHT... VERY INTENSE AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAD ERUPTED OVER PORTIONS OF NORTH TEXAS THIS EVENING. VERY STRONG WINDS...AT TIMES GUSTING IN EXCESS OF 50 MPH...HAD DEVELOPED WELL AHEAD OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS AND WAS MOVING RAPIDLY SOUTHWARD. THE BOUNDARY OF STRONG WINDS MOVED THROUGH ABILENE TEXAS DURING THE PAST HOUR...AND IF THESE STRONG WINDS CONTINUE MOVING SOUTH...COULD REACH THE NORTH PORTIONS OF SOUTH TEXAS LATER TONIGHT...LIKELY AFTER MIDNIGHT. AN UPPER DISTURBANCE MOVING SOUTHEAST THROUGH NORTH TEXAS WAS PRODUCING THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TO THE NORTH. AS THE DISTUBANCE MOVES SOUTHEAST...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS COULD DEVELOP OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS LATE TONIGHT AND DURING THE PREDAWN HOURS. PERSONS IN SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS SHOULD LISTEN TO LATER WEATHER DEVELOPMENTS AND BE ALERT FOR THE POSSIBLITY OF STRONG WINDS AND RAPIDLY DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORMS.
Special weather statement, May 4, 11:23 PM CDT, 1 hour before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO TX 1123 PM CDT THU MAY 4 1989 ...LINE OF VERY INTENSE THUNDERSTORMS MOVING TOWARD SOUTH TEXAS... VERY DANGEROUS AND FAST MOVING THUNDERSTORMS WERE ACROSS CENTRAL TEXAS FROM NEAR WACO TO NEAR SAN SABA...MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT NEAR 70 MPH. A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS UNTIL 5 AM CDT FRIDAY MORNING. ALTHOUGH THE TORNADO WATCH DOES NOT INCLUDE THE SAN ANTONIO METRO AREA AND SURROUNDING HILL COUNTRY AT THE PRESENT TIME...THE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS WAS DEVELOPING WEST AS IT MOVED RAPIDLY SOUTHEAST. THESE STORMS HAVE PRODUCED WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH WITHIN AND AHEADu OF THE LINE OF STORMS...ALONG WITH LARGE HAIL AND TORNADOES IN NORTH AND CENTRAL TEXAS THIS EVENING. PERSONS IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS SHOULD REMAIN TUNED TO LOCAL NEWS SOURCES OR NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR LATER WEATHER DEVELOPMENTS.
Special weather statement, May 4, 11:34 PM CDT, 49 minutes before
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX 1135 PM CDT THU MAY 4 1989 ...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 5AM FOR PORTIONS OF EAST CENTRAL TEXAS... IN THIS AREA THE WATCH INCLUDES THE COUNTIES OF MILAN AND BURLESON... BOTH ARE TO THE EAST AND NORTHEAST OF AUSTIN. AT 1135...RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE LINE OF THUNDERSTORMS FROM NEAR SAN SABA EAST TO THE WACO AREA. THESE STORMS ARE MOVING TOWARD THE SOUTHEAST AT 60 MPH. LARGE HAIL, HIGH WINDS AND TORNADO SIGHTINGS HAVE BEEN REPORTED WITH THOSE STORMS IN THE WACO VICINITY. REMEMBER A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. CONTINUE TO BE ON THE ALERT AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 5, 12:03 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Burnet, Lampasas, San Saba | 57 min |
| May 5, 1:11 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Williamson | 64 min |
| May 5, 2:01 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Burnet | 44 min |
| May 5, 2:14 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Blanco | 61 min |
| May 5, 2:25 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Travis | 50 min |
| May 5, 4:11 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | EWX | Hays | 34 min |
| May 5, 4:13 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | EWX | Guadalupe | 32 min |
| May 5, 4:25 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | EWX | Caldwell | 35 min |
| May 5, 4:37 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Gonzales | 53 min |
| May 5, 5:03 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | EWX | Caldwell | 27 min |
| May 5, 5:23 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Hays | 67 min |
| May 5, 6:12 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Caldwell, Travis | 63 min |
| May 5, 6:12 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Blanco, Burnet | 63 min |
| May 5, 7:30 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Fayette | 45 min |
| May 5, 7:42 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | EWX | Caldwell, Hays | 63 min |
| May 5, 8:35 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Gonzales | 70 min |
| May 5, 8:38 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | EWX | Caldwell, Fayette | 32 min |
| May 5, 8:44 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Gonzales | 61 min |
| May 5, 8:47 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Lavaca | 58 min |
| May 5, 9:13 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | DeWitt | 62 min |
| May 5, 10:09 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | DeWitt, Lavaca | 66 min |
| May 5, 10:23 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Victoria | 67 min |
| May 5, 10:54 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Gonzales | 51 min |
| May 5, 11:10 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | DeWitt | 65 min |
| May 5, 12:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Karnes | 66 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.