Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Corpus Christi, TX

June 20, 1996Victoria County, Texas

NWS Corpus Christi, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 20, 1996, 7:49 PM CDT for Victoria County, Texas. It was in force for 56 min. 5 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
Jun 20, 1996, 7:49 PM CDT (00:49 UTC)
Expired
Jun 20, 1996, 8:45 PM CDT
In force
56 min
Issued by
NWS Corpus Christi, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Victoria County, TX

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jun 20, 8:10 PM CDTHail 1.75Victoria, TX
Jun 20, 8:15 PM CDTHail 1.75Victoria, TX
Jun 20, 8:15 PM CDTHail 2.75Nursery, TX
Jun 20, 8:20 PM CDTHail 1.75Nursery, TX
Jun 20, 8:25 PM CDTHail 1.5Nursery, 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 00:00Z, 0.8 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 00:00Z on 1996-06-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1187 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 1996-06-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 49 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
1187 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-196 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1312 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
42 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
49 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
175 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCRP 210051
TORCRP
TXC469-210145-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
749 PM CDT THU JUN 20 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CORPUS CHRISTI HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  845 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY......
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...VICTORIA COUNTY
 
AT 748 PM CDT DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A
POOSIBLE TORNADO MOVING INTO NORTHERN VICTORIA COUNTY. THE THUNDERSTORM
WAS MOVING TO THE SOUTHWEST AT 30 MPH.
 
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.

NWS Corpus Christi, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Jun 20, 3:00 PM CDT, 4 hours 49 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 20, 3:00 PM CDT, 4 hours 49 minutes before
COASTAL BEND FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
259 PM CDT WED JUN 19 1996

MID LEVEL LOW OVER THE EXTEME N.W. PART OF GULF.  THIS SYSTEM WILL
PLAY A MAJOR ROLE ON THIS FORECAST PACKAGE.  THIS LOW WILL MOVE INTO
THE EXTREME WESTERN GULF AND THEN INLAND SOUTH OF THE COASTAL BEND.
WILL INSERT CHANCE POPS VCT AREA TONIGHT DUE TO PROXIMITY OF OUTFLOW
BOUNDRY AND VORT MAX IN S.E. TX.  ISOLATED POPS COASTAL BEND.  AS
LOW GETS CLOSER FRIDAY WILL SEE WIDELY SCATTERED TO SCATTERED TRW/RW.
TEMPS STILL ON THE VERY WARM TO HOT SIDE THE NEXT COUPLE OF DAY BUT
WITH THE ADDED CLOUD COVER TEMPS MAY BE A FEW DEGREES COOLER.

LOW STALL IN LOWER VALLEY THIS WEEKEND AND EARLY NEXT WEEK.  WILL THIS
MEAN A RAINFALL RALLY?  WE WILL SEE HOW PATTERN SHAPES UP.    LONGER

CRP BB 074/094 074/093 074 1222
VCT BB 073/096 074/095 074 2222
LRD UB 077/105 077/102 077 0011
RVL...0074

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 20, 8:20 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPGoliad55 min
Jun 20, 9:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPGoliad51 min
Jun 20, 9:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPBee61 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.