Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1994

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Brownsville, TX

April 12, 1994Zapata County, Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 12, 1994, 5:13 AM CDT for Zapata County, Texas. It was in force for 2 hr.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Apr 12, 1994, 5:13 AM CDT (10:13 UTC)
Expired
Apr 12, 1994, 7:15 AM CDT
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Brownsville, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Zapata County, TX

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 00:00Z, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 198 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 1994-04-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3185 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 1994-04-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -29 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
3185 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
634 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-29 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-4 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.2
Supercell composite
-1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBRO 121014
SVRBRO
TXC505-121215-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
513 AM CDT TUE APR 12 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BROWNSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS......
 
IN SOUTH TEXAS
 
   ...ZAPATA COUNTY
 
AT 510 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR WAS DETECTING A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM ACROSS NORTHERN ZAPATA COUNTY ABOUT 30 MILES WEST OF
HEBBRONVILLE. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AROUND 20 MILES AN HOUR.
 
 
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...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.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

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, Apr 12, 4:54 AM CDT, 19 minutes before
TXZ248>255-514-121055-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT AND RADAR SUMMARY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
454 AM CDT TUE APR 12 1994

...THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY ACROSS THE NORTHERN END OF FALCON
LAKE...

AT 435 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR WAS DETECTING
THUNDERSTORMS...SOME WITH VERY HEAVY RAINFALL...DEVELOPING ACROSS THE
NORTHERN END OF FALCON LAKE OR FROM ABOUT 15 MILES WEST OF HEBBRONVILLE
SOUTHWEST INTO MEXICO ABOUT 40 MILES SOUTH OF LAREDO. MOVEMENT WAS
NORTHEAST AROUND 20 MILES AN HOUR.

PEOPLE ACROSS ZAPATA COUNTY SHOULD BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY CHANGING WEATHER
CONDITIONS DURING THE REMAINDER OF THE EARLY MORNING HOURS. THESE
THUNDERSTORMS ARE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG AND GUSTY WINDS...VERY
HEAVY RAINFALL WHICH COULD RESULT IN LOCALIZED FLOODING...AND HAIL.

ELEWHERE...WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS WERE LOCATED BETWEEN BAFFIN BAY AND
HEBBRONVILLE. MOVEMENT WAS ALSO NORTHEAST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 1994Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1994

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.