Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Corpus Christi, TX

September 16, 1996Bee County, Texas

NWS Corpus Christi, TX issued this tornado warning at Sep 16, 1996, 5:53 PM CDT for Bee County, Texas. It was in force for 52 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
Sep 16, 1996, 5:53 PM CDT (22:53 UTC)
Expired
Sep 16, 1996, 6:45 PM CDT
In force
52 min
Issued by
NWS Corpus Christi, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Bee County, TX

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Sep 16, 6:05 PM CDTTornado F1Tynan, 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 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 86 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 1996-09-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1724 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 12:00Z on 1996-09-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -3 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
1724 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-119 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1110 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
12 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
48 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 KCRP 162253
TORCRP
TXC025-162345-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
553 PM CDT MON SEP 16 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CORPUS CHRISTI HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY......
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...SOUTHERN BEE COUNTY
 
AT 555 PM DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 8 MILES SOUTHWEST
OF BEEVILLE ON HIGHWAY 59. THE TORNADO WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 10 MPH.
THE TOWN OF BEEVILLE IS IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO. TAKE COVER NOW!
 
DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF
A TORNADOX...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

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 Sep 16, 2:43 PM CDT, 3 hours 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 16, 2:43 PM CDT, 3 hours 10 minutes before
COASTAL BEND FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
240 PM CDT MON SEP 16 1996

DISCUSSION...KCRP-88D INDICATING CNVCTN OVER PORTIONS OF THE NRN
CWA.  ACTIVITY APPEARS TO BE DEVELOPING IN A WEAK DEFORMATION
ZONE IN THE WIND FIELD AND PROPAGATING NEWD ALONG AN AXIS OF SFC
MOISTURE CNVGNC WHERE MAX VALUES ARE LOCATED OVR SE TX.  WL MENTION
EARLY EVE ISOLATED POPS FOR VCT ZONES AND ADD EARLY MORNING
CLOUDINESS TO BOTH CRP AND VCT AREAS.

12Z ETA MODEL TIME CROSS-SECTIONS DEPICT 40-50% MID-LEVEL RH VALUES
ACROSS THE FA AND FEEL THAT AFTN CNVCTN WL BE LIMITED TO ISOLATED
AREAS OF DEVELOPMENT ALONG BNDRYS GENERATED THROUGH SFC HTG AND
MOISTURE GRADIENTS (DEW POINT...CRP 75..VCT 81).  SEABREEZE
INTERACTION WL BE AN INFLUENCE TOWARD THE END OF THE FCST PERIOD.

PROGRESSIVE UPPER WAVE PATTERN OF WRN TROF-CNTRL RDG-ERN TROF
CONFIGURATION ACROSS THE U.S. TRANSLATES EWD THROUGH THE EXTENDED
ALLOWING FOR AN INCREASE RAFL hPOTENTIAL BY THE WEEKS END.  OTRW...NO
MAJOR CHANGES ARE ANTICIPATED.

THE FORECASTED NUMBERS ARE NEXT...

CRP 078/095 077/094 076 0102
VCT 075/094 076/094 075 1102
LRD 077/098 076/097 077 0002

BML...76

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 16, 5:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPJim Wells62 min
Sep 16, 5:23 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPBee67 min
Sep 16, 6:18 PM CDTTornado WarningCRPSan Patricio42 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.