Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 16, NWS Brownsville, TX

May 15, 1997Starr County, Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 15, 1997, 5:37 PM CDT for Starr County, Texas. It was in force for 68 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 15, 1997, 5:37 PM CDT (22:37 UTC)
Expired: May 15, 1997, 6:45 PM CDT
In force: 68 min
Issued by: NWS Brownsville, TX
Area: Whole counties

County Starr County, TX

The radar

The Brownsville radar (KBRO), 150 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:36 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 15, 6:15 PM CDT	Hail 0.75	La Casita, 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

Brownsville Intl, TX (KBRO), launched 12:00Z, 10.6 hours before the alert went out and 152 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 956 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -148 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 801 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 4 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 36 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBRO 152237 RRA
SVRBRO
TXC427-152345-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
537 PM CDT THU MAY 15 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BROWNSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  645 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS......
 
IN SOUTH TEXAS
 
   ...STARR COUNTY
 
AT 532 PM CDT...BROWNSVILLE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 10
MILES SOUTH OF RIO GRANDE CITY MOVING SLOWLY NORTH. THIS SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM HAS THE CAPABILITY OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND WINDS IN
EXCESS OF 60 MPH. PERSONS NEAR RIO GRANDE CITY...IN SOUTHERN STARR
COUNTY...CAN EXPECT THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM TO PASS OVER THEM DURING
THE NEXT HALF HOUR.
 
WHEN THUNDERSTORMS ARE OCCURRING...PEOPLE SHOULD MOVE INSIDE A
STRONG BUILDING.  DO NOT STAND BY WINDOWS.  DON'T USE TELEPHONES
OR ELECTRICAL APPLIANCES UNLESS IN AN EMERGENCY UNTIL THE STORM
HAS PASSED.  MOTORISTS SHOULD NOT DRIVE INTO 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.

NWS Brownsville, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 15, 1:52 PM CDT, 3 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 15, 1:52 PM CDT, 3 hours 45 minutes before

DEEP SOUTH TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
145 PM CDT THU MAY 15 1997

HUMID AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS TO REMAIN OVER AREA THRU FRI.  NGM AND
ETA DEPICT WK SHORTWAVE NR DRT TO MEANDER ABOUT REGION...WITH IT
GRDLY REACHING COAST NR BRO BY SAT.  THIS COMBINED WITH A WK CAP
AND SMALL SCALE BNDRYS SHLD PRODUCE A FEW SH/TSTRMS OVR AREA THRU
FRI...MAINLY IN THE LT AFTNS AND EVNGS.  WL CONT WITH SCTD CATGRY
POPS THRU SAT.

WK GRADIENT WL KEEP WINDS IN THE 10-15 MPH RANGE AT DAY AND 5-10
AT NIGHT...MAINLY FRM THE E OR SE.  GUIDANCE TEMPS LOOK REASONABLE
AND WILL STAY CLOSE TO THEM.  SKIES SHLD AVG PTC THRU SAT...WITH
MOCLDY MRNGS.

FOR TNGT: PTC WITH 30% CHANCE FOR TS.  LOWS ARND 70.
          SE WIND 5 TO 10 MPH.
     FRI: PTC WITH 20% CHNC FOR LATE AFTN TS.  HIGHS M80S E TO
          L90S W.  SE WIND 10-15 MPH.
 FRI NGT: MOCLDY WITH 30% CHNC FOR TS.  LOWS NEAR 70.
     SAT: PTC.  20% CHNC FOR LATE AFTN TS.  HIGHS M80S E-L90S W.

XTND PROGS BRING INCRSD SW FLOW BACK OVR AREA EARLY NEXT WEEK AS
W RIDGE COLLAPSES AND TROF BEGINS DVLPG OVR W U.S.  DO NOT SEE ANY
FRONTS DOWN THIS WAY FOR AWHILE...BUT TROF WL DEVLP OVR W TX...SO
ISLTD TSTRMS SHLD OCCUR.  CONTD PTC AND WARM WITH ISOLTD MAINLY
AFTN AND NIGHTTIME SHWRS AND TSTRMS.

SPECIFIC NUMBERS

BRO  70/84/71/85  30/20 LATE/30/20
MFE  70/85/71/87  30/20 LATE/30/20
RGC  69/90/70/92  30/20 LATE/30/20
SPI  72/82/72/82  30/10/30/20

54

*

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 15, 12:05 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Zapata	55 min
May 15, 1:29 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Jim Hogg, Starr	61 min
May 15, 2:24 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Brooks	36 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 1997 Every 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.