Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1991

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Brownsville, TX

May 5, 1991Brooks County, Jim Hogg County, Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this tornado warning at May 5, 1991, 2:31 AM CDT for Brooks County, Jim Hogg County, Texas. It was in force for 59 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 5, 1991, 2:31 AM CDT (07:31 UTC)
Expired
May 5, 1991, 3:30 AM CDT
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Brownsville, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Brooks County, TX, Jim Hogg County, TX

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 00:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 135 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 00:00Z on 1991-05-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4154 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 00:00Z on 1991-05-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 24 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
4154 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-72 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
618 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
24 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
58 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.9
Supercell composite
3.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBRO 050732 RRA
TORBRO
TXC047-247-050830-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
231 AM CDT SUN MAY 5 1991
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BROWNSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  330 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTH TEXAS
 
   ...BROOKS COUNTY...JIM-HOGG COUNTY
 
AT 116 AM RADAR DETECTED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 15 MILES NORTHWEST OF
FALFURRIAS ON THE BROOKS COUNTY LINE.
 
A POSSIBLE TORNADO WAS ALSO DETECTED 10 MILES TO THE SOUTHWEST OF
HEBRRONVILLE IN JIM HOGG COUNTY.
 
MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR FOR THESE TWO STORMS.
 
 
IF YOU LIVE IN A HOME OR APARTMENT...SEEK SHELTER IN THE
INNERMOST PORTION OF THE BUILDING ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  GET TO
A BASEMENT IF ONE IS AVAILABLE.  AVOID WINDOWS AND PROTECT YOUR
BODY FROM FLYING DEBRIS WITH CUSHIONS...BLANKETS...OR PILLOWS.

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 5, 1:47 AM CDT, 44 minutes before
TXZ041>44-050745-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
145 AM CDT SUN MAY 5 1991

...RAPIDLY DEVELOPING THUNDERSTORMS OVER DEEP SOUTH TEXAS...

AT 133 AM THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN WERE DEVELOPING OVER
ZAPATA.. JIM HOGG.. DUVAL.. AND KLEBERG COUNTIES.

PEA-SIZED HAIL WAS REPORTED BY THE SHERRIFS OFFICE IN HEBBRONVILLE.
STRONG GUSTY WINDS.. VERY HEAVY RAIN.. FREQUENT LIGHTNING.. AND MORE
HAIL/ CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS.

MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MILES AN HOUR.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Brownsville, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 4, 11:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROHidalgo38 min
May 4, 11:32 PM CDTTornado WarningBROHidalgo28 min
May 5, 1:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROJim Hogg65 min
May 5, 2:59 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROStarr61 min
May 5, 4:10 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROHidalgo, Starr65 min
May 5, 7:59 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROHidalgo61 min
May 5, 8:22 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROHidalgo, Starr68 min
May 5, 9:28 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROHidalgo62 min
May 5, 10:45 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROHidalgo60 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1991Every tornado warning in 1991Tornadoes in 1991

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.