Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1990

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 50, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

May 22, 1990Val Verde County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 22, 1990, 2:20 AM CDT for Val Verde County, Texas. It was in force for 55 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 22, 1990, 2:20 AM CDT (07:20 UTC)
Expired
May 22, 1990, 3:15 AM CDT
In force
55 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, 7.3 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 1990-05-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3436 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, Del Rio, TX at 00:00Z on 1990-05-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -62 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
3436 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-30 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1583 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-62 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
104 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
-1.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KDRT 220720
SVRDRT
TXC465-220815-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DEL RIO TX
220 AM CDT TUE MAY 22 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN DEL RIO HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  315 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...VAL VERDE COUNTY
 
AT 220 AM CDT THE LEADING EDGE OF A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH POSSIBLE
LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS AND VERY HEAVY RAIN WAS LOCATED ABOUT 8
MILES SOUTH OF DEL RIO. THIS STORM WAS MOVING AND BUILDING TO THE EAST
NORTHEAST NEAR 6 MPH.
 
A SLIGHTLY LESS INTENSE THUNDERSTORM CONTINUED NEAR HIGHWAY 90W JUST
WEST OF THE LAKE AMISTAD BRIDGE WITH LITTLE MOVEMNT.
 
THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THESE STORMS WILL LEAD TO FLOODING OF LOW WATER
CROSSINGS AND LOW LYING AREAS.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT ATTEMPT TO CROSS
FLOODED LOW WATER CROSSINGS.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM.  IF YOU ARE IN ITS PATH YOU SHOULD
PREPARE FOR DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55 MPH...LARGE HAIL...AND
DEADLY LIGHTNING.  PEOPLE OUTSIDE SHOULD MOVE TO A SHELTER...
PREFERABLY INSIDE A STRONG BUILDING BUT STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.
 
NNNN

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, 9:09 PM CDT, 5 hours 11 minutes before
TXC465-220315-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DEL RIO TX
909 PM CDT MON MAY 21 1990

AT 910 PM CDT MOST OF THE THUNDERSTORMS HAD MOVED OUT OF VAL VERDE
COUNTY INTO MEXICO. A FEW SHOWERS LINGERED WEST OF COMSTOCK AND NEAR
LOMA ALTA. THE THUNDERSTORMS THAT MOVED WEST AND SOUTH OF LANGTRY
INTO MEXICO DROPPED MARBLE SIZE HAIL...BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG WIN
HIGHWAY 90W BETWEEN LANGTRY AND VAL VERDE TERRRELL COUNTY LINE. THE
HAIL COVERED A SMALL SECTION OF HIGHWAY 90W.

NNNN
Local storm report, May 21, 10:10 PM CDT, 4 hours 10 minutes before
STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO, TX
1009 PM CDT MON MAY 21 1990

TIME                EVENT

243 PM CDT          GOLFBALL SIZED HAIL WITH HEAVY RAIN AND GUSTY
                    WIND SOUTHWEST OF KERRVILLE

650 PM CDT          GOLFBALL SIZED HAIL WITH HIGH WINDS 6 WEST OF UVALDE
Special weather statement, May 21, 11:11 PM CDT, 3 hours 9 minutes before
TXZ038-041-054-220530-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SAN ANTONIO, TX
1110 PM CDT MON MAY 21 1990

A THUNDERSTORM HAD REDEVELOPED JUST BEFORE 1100 PM THIS EVENING ABOUT
8 MILES TO THE NORTHWEST OF THE CITY OF DEL RIO.  THIS STORM WAS MOVING
TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 10 MPH.  IF IT CONTINUES ITS CURRENT DIRECTION AND
RATE OF SPEED...IT WILL REACH THE CITY OF DEL RIO SHORTLY BEFORE MIDNIGHT.
IN THE VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS OVER THE EDWARDS PLATEAU TONIGHT...SUCH
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CAN BUILD VERY RAPIDLY...PRODUCING BRIEF BUT
VERY HEAVY RAIN...GUSTY WINDS...DANGEROUS LIGHTNING...AND EVEN SOME HAIL.

ADDITIONAL THUNDERSTORMS WERE INDICATED BY WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT
1105 PM IVN THE MOUNTAINS OF MEXICO...FROM ABOUT 30 MILES WEST OF EAGLE
PASS TO AROUND 40 MILES WEST OF LAREDO.  LITTLE MOVEMENT WAS INDICATED
WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 21, 11:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXVal Verde60 min
May 22, 3:34 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXVal Verde60 min
May 22, 3:34 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXVal Verde60 min
May 22, 12:19 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXCalhoun26 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.