Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1992

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Brownsville, TX

May 3, 1992Willacy County, Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this tornado warning at May 3, 1992, 1:45 PM CDT for Willacy County, Texas. It was in force for 30 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 3, 1992, 1:45 PM CDT (18:45 UTC)
Expired
May 3, 1992, 2:15 PM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Brownsville, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Willacy County, TX

The nearest sounding before it

Brownsville Intl, TX (KBRO), launched 12:00Z, 6.8 hours before the alert went out and 67 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, Brownsville Intl, TX at 12:00Z on 1992-05-03Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1175 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, Brownsville Intl, TX at 12:00Z on 1992-05-03The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 106 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
1175 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-21 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
569 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
106 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
106 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBRO 031848
TORBRO
TXC489-031915-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
145 PM CDT SUN MAY 3 1992
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BROWNSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  215 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTH TEXAS
 
   ...SOUTHERN WILLACY COUNTY
 
AT 120 PM THE WILLACY COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE REPORTED A POSSIBLE
TORNADO 12 MILES EAST OF SEBASTIAN IN SOUTHERN WILLACY COUNTY. THE
TORNADO WAS MOVING TO THE SOUTH.
 
 
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.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

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 3, 10:53 AM CDT, 2 hours 52 minutes before
TXZ041>044-031700-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
1052 AM CDT SUN MAY 3 1992

... THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINS OVER THE VALLEY...

AT 1033 AM WEATHER RADAR INDICATED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS...SOME
CONTAINING VERY HEAVY RAIN...DEVELOPING AND INCREASING IN INTENSITY...
OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTH TEXAS INCLUDING THE VALLEY.

MOST OF THE HEAVIEST THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED BETWEEN ZAPATA AND
MCALLEN AND SHOULD PRODUCE VERY HEAVY RAINS AS THEY CONTINUE OVER THE
VALLEY THROUGHOUT THE AFTERNOON.

OTHER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE OVER SOUTH TEXAS...NORTHEAST
MEXICO AND THE GULF WATER EXTENDING 20 TO 140 MILES WEST THROUGH NORTHWEST
AND THROUGH NORTHEAST OF BROWNSVILLE.

ALL THE ACTIVITY WAS MOVING TOWARD THE EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, May 3, 11:53 AM CDT, 1 hour 52 minutes before
TXZ041>044-031800-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
1150 AM CDT SUN MAY 3 1992

...THUNDERSTORMS WITH VERY HEAVY RAINS CONTINUING OVER THE VALLEY...

AT 1130 AM SCATTERED THUNDERSTORM...SOME WITH VERY HEAVY RAINS...CONTINUE
OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTH TEXAS INCLUDING THE VALLEY.  MOST OF THE
THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING THE VERY HEAVY RAINS WERE LOCATED BETWEEN MERCEDES
AND RIO GRANDE CITY.

THE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING THE VERY HEAVY RAINS WILL LIKELY CAUSE
FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS AS THEY CONTINUE OVER THE VALLEY THROUGHOUT
THE AFTERNOON.

OTHER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED OVER SOUTH TEXAS...NORTHEAST
MEXICO AND THE GULF WATER EXTENDING 30 TO 140 MILES WEST THROUGH NORTHWEST
AND THROUGH NORTHEAST OF BROWNSVILLE.
MOST OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.
Special weather statement, May 3, 12:55 PM CDT, 50 minutes before
TXZ041>044-031900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
1254 PM CDT SUN MAY 3 1992

...STRONG THUNDERSTORMS OVER THE VALLEY AND THE LOWER TEXAS COAST...

AT 1230 PM SCATTERED THUNDERSTORM...SOME WITH VERY HEAVY RAINS...CONTINUED
OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTH TEXAS INCLUDING THE VALLEY AND ALONG THE LOWER TEXAS
COAST.  SOME OF THE STORMS WERE PRODUCING VERY HEAVY RAINS AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING.

THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCING THE VERY HEAVY RAINS WILL LIKELY CAUSE SOME
FLOODING OVER PORTIONS OF THE VALLEY AS THEY CONTINUE OVER THE VALLEY
DURING THE NEXT SEVERAL HOURS.

OTHER SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WERE LOCATED OVER SOUTH TEXAS...NORTHEAST
MEXICO AND THE GULF WATER EXTENDING 30 TO 125 MILES WEST THROUGH NORTH
AND THROUGH NORTHEAST OF BROWNSVILLE.
MARINE INTEREST ALONG THE INTRACOASTAL WATERWAY AND OFFSHORE SHOULD
EXERCISE CAUTION WITH THESE STORMS UNTIL THEY MOVE OUT OF THE AREA.

MOVEMENT OF ALL ACTIVITY WAS TOWARD THE EAST AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 3, 2:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROCameron, Willacy46 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1992Every tornado warning in 1992Tornadoes in 1992

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.