Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1992

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Fort Worth, TX

May 17, 1992Bell County, Texas

NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this tornado warning at May 17, 1992, 7:29 PM CDT for Bell County, Texas. It was in force for 46 min. 2 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 17, 1992, 7:29 PM CDT (00:29 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 1992, 8:15 PM CDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Fort Worth, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Bell County, TX

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 17, 7:30 PM CDTTornado F0Bell, TX
May 17, 7:46 PM CDTTornado F0Bell, 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 00:00Z, 0.5 hours before the alert went out and 144 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 00:00Z on 1992-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 97 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 00:00Z on 1992-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -14 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
97 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-12 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
698 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
18 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-14 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-1 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KACT 180028
TORACT
TXC027-180115-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WACO TX
729 PM CDT SUN MAY 17 1992
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN WACO TX  HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  815 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...EASTERN BELL COUNTY
 
AT 728 PM CDT BELL COUNTY SHERIFF REPORTS A FUNNEL CLOUD 2 MILES
NORTHWEST OF HOLLAND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.
 
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.

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 17, 1:41 PM CDT, 5 hours 48 minutes before
TXZ031-032-037-171940-

URBAN AND SMALL STREAM FLOOD STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE WACO TX
136 PM CDT SUN MAY 17 1992

...A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR TODAY FOR BELL...BOSQUE...
CORYELL...FALLS...HILL...LEON...LIMESTONE AND MCLENNAN COUNTIES OF
TEXAS...

...A FLOOD AND FLASH FLOOD WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR TODAY FOR BRAZOS...
MADISON AND ROBERTSON COUNTIES OF TEXAS...

AT 129 PM CDT ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN WERE CONTINUING OVER
THE SAME AREA FOR THE LAST SEVERAL HOURS FROM JUST EAST OF WACO TO NEAR WEST.

PONDING WAS REPORTED ON INTERSTATE 35 NEAR THE ROSS ROAD EXIT. MOTORISTS
SHOULD SLOW DOWN AND USE CAUTION IN THIS AREA. SMALL STREAMS AND CREEKS MAY
ALSO BE FILLING WITH WATER AND LOW WATER CROSSINGS SHOULD BE AVOIDED.
THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN WERE ALSO NOTED FROM EAST OF STEPHENVILLE TO NEAR
HICO.

NUMEROUS SHOWERS CONTINUED OVER NORTH CENTRAL...CENTRAL AND SOUTH
CENTRAL TEXAS. MOVEMENT WAS NORTH AT 15 MILES AN HOUR.

HIGHWAY 434 NEAR DOWNSVILLE WAS CLOSED DUE TO WATER OVER THE ROAD.
SPRING LAKE ROAD NEAR AXTELL WAS CLOSED FOR THE SAME REASON.

PERSONS IN CENTRAL AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT
FOR THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN THAT COULD CAUSE FLASH FLOODING. BE
READY TO MOVE TO HIGHER GROUND IF FLOODING IS OBSERVED OR A WARNING
IS ISSUED. MOTORISTS SHOULD BE ESPECIALLY CAUTIOUS AND AVOID AREAS
WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

STAY TUNED TO THIS STATION FOR LATER STATENMENTS AND STAY ALERT FOR
ANY WARNING BULLETINS.

05

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 18, 5:34 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDHunt3 hr
May 18, 5:40 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDCollin3 hr
May 18, 6:59 PM CDTTornado WarningFWDBell46 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.