Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 53, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

May 27, 1996Blanco County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 27, 1996, 7:46 AM CDT for Blanco County, Texas. It was in force for 44 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
May 27, 1996, 7:46 AM CDT (12:46 UTC)
Expired
May 27, 1996, 8:30 AM CDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Blanco County, TX

The radar

The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 72 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:49 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 27, 8:06 AM CDTHail 0.75Blanco, 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

Del Rio, TX (KDRT), launched 12:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 256 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, Del Rio, TX at 12:00Z on 1996-05-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2767 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, Del Rio, TX at 12:00Z on 1996-05-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 87 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
2767 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-17 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
569 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
87 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
112 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.9
Supercell composite
9.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSAT 271248
SVRSAT
TXC031-271330-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
746 AM CDT MON MAY 27 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...BLANCO COUNTY
 
AT 742 AM CDT DOPPLER WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A RAPIDLY INTENSIFYING
STORM MOVING INTO THE WESTERN PORTION OF BLANCO COUNTY JUST SOUTH OF
HWY 290.  THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 30 MPH.
 
LARGE HAIL...HEAVY RAIN AND DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS WILL POSSIBLY
BE PRODUCED BY THIS STORM AS IT MOVES TO THE EAST... JUST NORTH OF
THE CITY OF BLANCO.
 
 
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WINDS CAN REACH SPEEDS OVER 60 MPH.  THESE WINDS
BLOW DOWN TREES...POWER LINES...AND SEVERELY DAMAGE MOBILE HOMES...
SOMETIMES BUILDINGS.  VERY LARGE HAIL CAN INJURE ANYONE CAUGHT
OUTSIDE.
 
IF YOU SEE SEVERE WEATHER TAKING PLACE...CALL YOUR REPORT TO
THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY FOR IMMEDIATE RELAY TO THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

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, May 27, 5:40 AM CDT, 2 hours 6 minutes before
TXZ187-193-205-190-172-206-184-188-207-189-186-202-171-204-185-
192-203-183-173-271145-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
536 AM CDT MON MAY 27 1996

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF THE HILL COUNTRY AND
THE EDWARDS PLATEAU WILL EXPIRE AT 600 AM...

AT 530 AM CDT STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WITH HEAVY RAIN CONTINUED ACROSS
NORTHWESTERN PORTIONS OF THE HILL COUNTRY AND THE EDWARDS PLATEAU
EXTENDING FROM LANGTRY NORTHEAST TO ROCKSPRINGS...FREDERICKSBURG AND
LAMPASAS.  THE HEAVIEST RAIN WAS FALLING EAST OF ROCKSPRINGS...EAST OF
JUNCTION AND NORTHWEST OF LLANO.

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNINGS FOR EDWARDS COUNTY WERE ALLOWED TO EXPI
.SMALL HAIL, HEAVY RAIN AND STRONG WINDS WERE REPORTED FROM ROCKSPRINGS.
THE STRONGEST PORTION OF THE STORM WENT JUST NORTH OF THERE.  SOME OF
THE STORMS DUMPED UP TO 2 INCHES OF RAIN IN SOME AREAS ACCORDING TO
DOPPLER RAINFALL ESTIMATES.

THE THUNDERSTORMS HAD FORMED ON A DRY LINE AHEAD OF A COLD FRONT
TRAILING FROM THE LARGE LOW PRESSURE SYSTEM OVER THE GREAT PLAINS.

THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER HAS ENDED FOR NOW BUT THE CHANCES FOR
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL REMAIN THROUGH OUT THE DAY FOR CENTRAL
AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS.
Special weather statement, May 27, 6:07 AM CDT, 1 hour 39 minutes before
TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228>230-239-281100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
600 AM CDT MON MAY 27 1996

A WEAK COLD FRONT IN THE NORTHERN HILL COUNTRY AND AN UNSTABLE
AIRMASS OVER CENTRAL TEXAS WILL RESULT IN SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
ACROSS MUCH OF THE HILL COUNTRY...EDWARDS PLATEAU...AND SOUTH CENTRAL
TEXAS TODAY AND INTO THIS EVENING.  THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK THAT
SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BECOME SEVERE...PRODUCING DAMAGING
WINDS...BRIEF HEAVY RAINS...AND LARGE HAIL.  STAYED TUNED FOR ANY
WATCHES OR WARNINGS THAT MAY BE ISSUED TODAY AND POSSIBLY INTO
TONIGHT.

THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS NOT UPDATED.  ANY CHANGES IN THE
FORECAST
 WEATHER WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED THROUGH WATCHES...WARNINGS...
STATEMENTS...AND FORECAST PRODUCTS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 27, 3:49 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXEdwards41 min
May 27, 4:31 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXEdwards44 min
May 27, 5:43 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXReal47 min
May 27, 6:21 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXEdwards2 hr
May 27, 6:42 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXReal2 hr
May 27, 7:08 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBandera52 min
May 27, 8:08 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBexar67 min
May 27, 8:16 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXComal, Hays59 min
May 27, 12:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXHays45 min
May 27, 1:35 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXCaldwell25 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 1996Every severe thunderstorm warning 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.