Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 23, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

October 18, 1994Victoria County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this tornado warning at Oct 18, 1994, 9:29 AM CDT for Victoria County, Texas. It was in force for 46 min. 1 report 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
Oct 18, 1994, 9:29 AM CDT (14:29 UTC)
Expired
Oct 18, 1994, 10:15 AM CDT
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Victoria County, TX

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Oct 18, 9:31 AM CDTTornado F0Placedo, TXThe small and short-lived was first observed by personnel from the Texas Highway Department at 0831CST and later by the Sheriffs Department at 0835CST. The tornado was moving toward the north.

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

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 2.5 hours before the alert went out and 124 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 12:00Z on 1994-10-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2059 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 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 12:00Z on 1994-10-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 167 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2059 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
583 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
167 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
170 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.1
Supercell composite
7.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KVCT 181432
TORVCT
TXC469-181515-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE VICTORIA TX
929 AM CDT TUE OCT 18 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN VICTORIA HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1015 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS......
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...EASTERN VICTORIA COUNTY
 
AT 925 AM CDT VICTORIA RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR PLACEDO MOVING
NORTH AT 15 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, Oct 18, 8:19 AM CDT, 1 hour 10 minutes before
TXZ183-181500-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DEL RIO TX
820 AM CDT TUE OCT 18 1994

AT 815 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT HONDO INDICATED
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH A COLD FRONT EXTENDING FROM 5
MILES EAST OF SONORA TOWARDS COMSTOCK.  THE HEAVIEST STORMS WERE
LOCATED 50 MILES NORTH OF DEL RIO.  MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 15-20
MPH.

SINCE THUNDERSTORMS REMAIN IN THE FORECAST THROUGH TONIGHT...BOATERS AND
FISHERMEN ON LAKE AMISTAD AND SURROUNDING RIVERS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND
MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IF LIGHTNING IS SEEN OR THUNDER IS HEARD.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL TV AND RADIO STATIONS FOR
FURTHER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, Oct 18, 8:20 AM CDT, 1 hour 9 minutes before
TXZ183-181500-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DEL RIO TX
820 AM CDT TUE OCT 18 1994

AT 815 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR AT HONDO INDICATED
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH A COLD FRONT EXTENDING FROM 5
MILES EAST OF SONORA TOWARDS COMSTOCK.  THE HEAVIEST STORMS WERE
LOCATED 50 MILES NORTH OF DEL RIO.  MOVEMENT WAS TO THE EAST AT 15-20
MPH.

SINCE THUNDERSTORMS REMAIN IN THE FORECAST THROUGH TONIGHT...BOATERS AND
FISHERMEN ON LAKE AMISTAD AND SURROUNDING RIVERS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT AND
MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IF LIGHTNING IS SEEN OR THUNDER IS HEARD.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL TV AND RADIO STATIONS FOR
FURTHER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 18, 12:23 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXKarnes3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1994Every tornado warning in 1994Tornadoes 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.