Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

September 15, 1996Uvalde County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this tornado warning at Sep 15, 1996, 12:56 AM CDT for Uvalde County, Texas. It was in force for 64 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 15, 1996, 12:56 AM CDT (05:56 UTC)
Expired
Sep 15, 1996, 2:00 AM CDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Uvalde County, TX

The radar

The Laughlin AFB radar (KDFX), 51 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:58 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
Sep 15, 1:15 AM CDTTornado F1Blewitt, 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 00:00Z, 5.9 hours before the alert went out and 104 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 00:00Z on 1996-09-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1372 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Del Rio, TX at 00:00Z on 1996-09-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 106 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
1372 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1184 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
106 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
243 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.8
Supercell composite
6.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSAT 150600
TORSAT
TXC463-150700-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
1256 AM CDT SUN SEP 15 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  200 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...SOUTHWESTERN UVALDE COUNTY
 
AT 1255 AM DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO MOVING FROM THE
UVALDE AND ZAVALA COUNTY LINE TOWARDS THE CITIES OF DABNEY AND BLEWETT.
MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.
 
PEOPLE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION
TO PROTECT THEIR LIVES.  GO TO THE CENTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR
BUILDING...COVER YOUR HEAD.  STAY AWAY FROM DOORS AND WINDOWS.  DO
NOT STAY IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...GET INTO A STURDY BUILDING.
 
TORNADOES WHICH OCCUR AFTER DARK ARE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS.  GET TO
A PLACE OF SAFETY NOW!  STAY AWAY FROM DOORS AND WINDOWS...BUT GET
OUT OF MOBILE HOMES AND CARS.
 
 
 
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 14, 9:56 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXVal Verde4 hr
Sep 14, 10:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXVal Verde61 min
Sep 14, 10:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXKinney62 min
Sep 14, 10:48 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXVal Verde42 min
Sep 14, 10:48 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXVal Verde42 min
Sep 14, 10:59 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXEdwards61 min
Sep 14, 11:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXKinney, Maverick64 min
Sep 15, 12:08 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXKinney3 hr
Sep 15, 12:37 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXEdwards3 hr
Sep 15, 2:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXUvalde55 min
Sep 15, 2:14 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXReal, Uvalde3 hr
Sep 15, 3:22 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBandera, Medina68 min
Sep 15, 5:08 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBexar, Comal52 min
Sep 15, 5:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXGuadalupe60 min
Sep 15, 5:31 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXHays44 min
Sep 15, 8:56 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXLavaca3 hr

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.