Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 44, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

May 21, 1990Travis County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 21, 1990, 5:23 PM CDT for Travis County, Texas. It was in force for 67 min. 3 reports 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 21, 1990, 5:23 PM CDT (22:23 UTC)
Expired
May 21, 1990, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
67 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Travis 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 21, 5:28 PM CDTHail 2.75Travis, TX
May 21, 5:50 PM CDTHail 2.75Travis, TX
May 21, 6:19 PM CDTHail 3Travis, 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

Stephenville/Cla, TX (KSEP), launched 12:00Z, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 212 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, Stephenville/Cla, TX at 12:00Z on 1990-05-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1021 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, Stephenville/Cla, TX at 12:00Z on 1990-05-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 41 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1021 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-157 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1837 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
41 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
37 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KAUS 212223
SVRAUS
TXC453-212330-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN TX
523 PM CDT MON MAY 21 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  630 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...TRAVIS COUNTY
 
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS NOTED ON THE NORTH SIDE OF AUSTIN.
 
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURR-ING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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 21, 4:26 PM CDT, 57 minutes before
TXZ035-054-212230-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO, TX
425 PM CDT MON MAY 21 1990

A THUNDERSTORM WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS LOCATED AT 420 PM 15 MILES
NORTHWEST OF LEAKEY.  THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE WEST AT 12 MPH.  AS
IT MOVED ACROSS THE PRADE RANCH IN NORTHERN REAL COUNTY...THE STORM
PRODUCED VERY HEAVY RAINFALL AND PEA TO MARBLE-SIZED HAIL.  RAINFALL
RATES IN THIS STORM ARE ESTIMATED AT OVER 2 INCHES PER HOUR.  THE STORM
APPEARS LIKELY TO ENTER EDWARDS COUNTY WITHIN THE NEXT 30 MINUTES.  THIS
STORM HAS THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE LARGER HAIL...ALONG WITH VERY STRONG
WINDS AND DEADLY LIGHTNING.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 20, 8:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXMcMullen58 min
May 20, 8:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXAtascosa55 min
May 20, 9:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXAtascosa54 min
May 20, 10:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBexar50 min
May 20, 10:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXWilson76 min
May 20, 10:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXGonzales61 min
May 21, 2:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXKerr69 min
May 21, 2:37 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXKerr68 min
May 21, 6:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXUvalde68 min
May 21, 6:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXWilliamson45 min
May 21, 6:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXTravis30 min
May 21, 6:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXVal Verde61 min

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.