Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 1, NWS Brownsville, TX
NWS Brownsville, TX issued this tornado warning at Dec 31, 1996, 11:17 AM CST for Cameron County, Texas. It was in force for 58 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Dec 31, 1996, 11:17 AM CST (17:17 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 31, 1996, 12:15 PM CST
- In force
- 58 min
- Issued by
- NWS Brownsville, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Cameron County, TX
The radar
The Brownsville radar (KBRO), 27 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:17 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.
Open the radar archive at this moment
The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.
The nearest sounding before it
Brownsville Intl, TX (KBRO), launched 12:00Z, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 29 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1820 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 498 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 36 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 83 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 221 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.3
- Supercell composite
- 7.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KBRO 311720 TORBRO TXC061-311815- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 1117 AM CST TUE DEC 31 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BROWNSVILLE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1215 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...... IN SOUTH TEXAS ...CAMERON COUNTY AT 1100 AM CDT...BROWNSVILLE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN THE HARLINGEN AREA. THE THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING NORTH AT 10 TO 15 MPH. FUNNEL CLOUDS WERE REPORTED IN THE HARLINGEN AREA WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM. THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING QUICKLY OVER DEEP SOUTH TEXAS TODAY. CONTINUE TO MONITOR WEATHER CONDITIONS TODAY VIA NOAA WEATHER RADIO...OR COMMERCIAL RADIO AND TELEVISION. 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.J 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.
NWS Brownsville, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Dec 31, 9:17 AM CST, 2 hours earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 31, 9:17 AM CST, 2 hours before
DEEP SOUTH TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 915 AM CST TUE DEC 31 1996 WL HAVE TO INSERT 20% POPS IN FCST FOR THIS AFTN WITH SOME RWS NOW OVR C VLY. MOST ACTIVITY N OF ARE8A...AND IT SHLD STAY PRIMARILY N OF AREA WHERE BETTER LIFT IS. OTHERWISE VERY WARM AND STICKY AIR WILL CONT ACRSS FA THRU WED. REST OF CURRENT FCST OK. 54
The office that day
Everything else NWS Brownsville, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 31, 12:16 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BRO | Kenedy | 59 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes in 1996
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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.