Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

September 21, 1996Lavaca County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this tornado warning at Sep 21, 1996, 12:09 AM CDT for Lavaca County, Texas. It was in force for 51 min. 2 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
Sep 21, 1996, 12:09 AM CDT (05:09 UTC)
Expired
Sep 21, 1996, 1:00 AM CDT
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Lavaca County, TX

The radar

The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 112 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:12 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 21, 12:20 AM CDTHail 0.88Sublime, TX
Sep 21, 12:25 AM CDTTornado F0Ezzell, 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, 5.2 hours before the alert went out and 188 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 1996-09-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 234 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 00:00Z on 1996-09-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -46 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
234 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-264 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1539 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-46 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-7 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 KSAT 210514
TORSAT
TXC285-210600-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
1209 AM CDT SAT SEP 21 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  100 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...LAVACA COUNTY
 
LAVACA COUNTY SHERIFF DEPARTMENT RECEIVED A REPORT OF A TORNADO NEAR
VIENNA.  THIS STORM IS MOVING SOUTHnEAST AT 20 MPH.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM...ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH
OF THIS TORNADO...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF A STURDY BUILDING.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 20, 7:46 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXTravis, Williamson3 hr
Sep 20, 7:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXTravis, Williamson3 hr
Sep 20, 7:56 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBurnet64 min
Sep 20, 8:18 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXBurnet, Travis57 min
Sep 20, 8:56 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXTravis64 min
Sep 20, 9:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXHays59 min
Sep 20, 9:33 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBastrop, Lee117 min
Sep 20, 10:10 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXHays65 min
Sep 20, 10:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXCaldwell59 min
Sep 20, 10:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXComal, Guadalupe55 min
Sep 21, 12:08 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXLavaca52 min
Sep 21, 12:40 AM CDTTornado WarningEWXDeWitt65 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.