Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 36, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 20, 1990, 5:45 PM CDT for Webb County, Texas. It was in force for 90 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- May 20, 1990, 5:45 PM CDT (22:45 UTC)
- Expired
- May 20, 1990, 7:15 PM CDT
- In force
- 90 min
- Issued by
- NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Webb County, TX
The radar
The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 20, 6:45 PM CDT | Hail 1.25 | Webb, TX |
NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.
The nearest sounding before it
Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 196 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
- 1896 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -395 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1062 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 27 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 53 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 76 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- -0.3
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
TTAA00 KSAT 202244
SVRSAT
TXC479-210015-
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO TX
545 PM CDT SUN MAY 20 1990
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 715 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
IN SOUTH TEXAS
...WEBB
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY RADAR 10 MILES NORTH OF THE
CITY OF LAREDO. THE STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.
BECAUSE OF THE EXTREME HEAT THAT OCCURRED IN THE LAREDO AREA THIS
AFTERNOON...DAMAGING WINDS ARE VERY POSSIBLE IN THIS STORM.
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...HAIL
3/4 INCH OR MORE IN6 DIAMETER...FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND VERY HEAVY
RAIN.
YOU SHOULD ASK THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY TO RELAY YOUR
SEVERE WEATHER REPORTS TO THE LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.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 20, 11:47 AM CDT, 5 hours 58 minutes before
TXZ030-036-201800- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX 1145 AM CDT SUN MAY 20 1990 ...THUNDERSTORMS DIMINISHING OVER THE HILL COUNTRY... AT 1130 AM...RADAR INDICATED A LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS WITH A FEW EMBEDDED THUNDERSTORMS FROM NORTH OF WACO TO SOUTH AND WEST OF AUSTIN SOUTHWEST TO SOUTH OF SAN ANTONIO. THE STRONGER STORMS WERE ABOUT 30 MILES EAST OF LAKE BUCHANAN. THE STORMS WERE MOVING NORTHEAST AT NEAR 20 MPH. THIESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN DECREASING IN INTENSITY AND AREA COVERAGE OVER THE PAST HOUR BUT MAY PRODUCE SOME BRIEF LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN.
Special weather statement, May 20, 4:45 PM CDT, 1 hour before
TXZ035-040-202240- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO, TX 445 PM CDT SUN MAY 20 1990 AT 440 PM THIS AFTERNOON...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN IN MEXICO...APPROXIMATELY 15 MILES SOUTHWEST OF THE CITY OF LAREDO. THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 10 MPH. BECAUSE THE ATMOSPHERE IS VERY UNSTABLE THIS AFTERNOON...AND BECAUSE OF AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES WELL OVER 100 DEGREES IN THE LAREDO AREA... THIS STORM ALSO HAS THE POTENTIAL OF PRODUCING VERY STRONG AND POSSIBLY DAMAGING WINDS. IF THE STORM CONTINUES TO MOVE AT ITS CURRENTLY DIRECTION AND SPEED IT WILL REACH THE CITY OF LAREDO NEAR 600 PM THIS EVENING.
Special weather statement, May 20, 5:36 PM CDT, 9 minutes before
TXZ035-040-202340- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO, TX 537 PM CDT SUN MAY 20 1990 SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL...CONTINUED AT 530 PM BETWEEN LAREDO AND COTULLA. THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. TEMPERATURES REACHED 109 DEGREES IN LAREDO THIS AFTERNOON...WITH 102 DEGREES REPORTED AT COTULLA. SUCH EXTREME HEAT DEVELOPES THUNDERSTORMS WITH BASES SEVERAL THOUSAND FEET ABOVE THE GROUND. A STORM OF THIS TYPE HAS THE POTENTIAL FOR PRODUCING VERY STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS...THAT AT TIMES CAN BE DAMAGING. OFTEN THE RAIN FALLING FROM THESE STORMS IS SEEN TO EVAPORATE BEFORE IT REACHES THE GROUND. IS IS A VISUAL SIG.N THAT THE STORMS COULD PRODUCE DAMAGING WINDS.
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 1990Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1990
Sources
The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.