Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Brownsville, TX

May 15, 1997Zapata County, Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 15, 1997, 12:05 AM CDT for Zapata County, Texas. It was in force for 55 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 15, 1997, 12:05 AM CDT (05:05 UTC)
Expired
May 15, 1997, 1:00 AM CDT
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Brownsville, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Zapata County, TX

The radar

The Corpus Christi radar (KCRP), 185 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:05 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 00:00Z, 5.1 hours before the alert went out and 198 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 1997-05-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1447 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 00:00Z on 1997-05-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 88 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
1447 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-146 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1300 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
88 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
128 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
1.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

057 
WUUS1 KBRO 150506 RRA
SVRBRO
TXC505-150600-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
1205 AM CDT THU MAY 15 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BROWNSVILLE TX HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 100 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHERN TEXAS

   ...ZAPATA COUNTY
 
AT 1200 AM...BROWNSVILLE AND CORPUS CHRISTI DOPPLER INDICATED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 19 MILES SOUTHWEST OF THE TOWN OF ZAPATA.  THIS
STORM WAS MOVING EAST AT AROUND 15 MPH AND WILL EFFECT THE TOWNS OF
ZAPATA AND FALCON THROUGH 1 AM.  THIS STORM WILL PRODUCE LARGE
HAIL...DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS AND DEADLY LIGHTNING.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING... PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING. DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS. DO NOT USE TELEPHONES OR
ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM HAS
PASSED. MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

SPEECE

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 15, 1:29 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROJim Hogg, Starr61 min
May 15, 2:24 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROBrooks36 min
May 15, 5:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROStarr68 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1997

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.