Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 55, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

May 27, 1996Comal County, Hays County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 27, 1996, 8:16 AM CDT for Comal County, Hays County, Texas. It was in force for 59 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, 8:16 AM CDT (13:16 UTC)
Expired
May 27, 1996, 9:15 AM CDT
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Comal County, TX, Hays County, TX

The radar

The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 28 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:19 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, 8:30 AM CDTHail 0.75New Braunfels, 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, 1.3 hours before the alert went out and 257 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 1996-05-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1896 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 1996-05-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 128 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
1896 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-175 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
606 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
128 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
142 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
2.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSAT 271318
SVRSAT
TXC209-091-271415-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
816 AM CDT MON MAY 27 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  915 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...HAYS COUNTY...COMAL COUNTY...
 
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS CURRENTLY MOVING INTO WESTERN HAYS AND COMAL
COUNTY. THE STORM IS MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. THIS STORM LIKELY CONTAINS
STRONG DAMAGING WINDS AND POSSIBLY SOME HAIL.
 
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.
 
PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD BE ALERT TO THE POSSIBILITY
OF LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.  FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY
HEAVY RAIN CAN HALSO OCCUR WITH SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...FLOODING SMALL
STREAMS...LOW AREAS...AND LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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 36 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, 2 hours 9 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, 7:46 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBlanco44 min
May 27, 8:08 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBexar67 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.