Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 18, NWS Brownsville, TX

May 15, 1997Brooks County, Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 15, 1997, 8:11 PM CDT for Brooks County, Texas. It was in force for 59 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, 8:11 PM CDT (01:11 UTC)
Expired: May 15, 1997, 9:10 PM CDT
In force: 59 min
Issued by: NWS Brownsville, TX
Area: Whole counties

County Brooks County, TX

The radar

The Corpus Christi radar (KCRP), 109 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:14 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, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 116 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: 3057 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -10 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 900 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -35 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -5 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: -0.3
Supercell composite: -1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBRO 160111 RRA
SVRBRO
TXC047-160210-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BROWNSVILLE TX HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 910 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHERN TEXAS

   ...BROOKS COUNTY
 
AT 807 PM...BROWNSVILLE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
10 MILES WEST OF ENCINO.  THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT LESS
THAN 5 MPH AND WILL PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...WIND GUSTS IN EXCESS OF 60
MPH AND TORRENTIAL RAINS.  THIS STORM WILL AFFECT THE TOWN OF ENCINO
THROUGH THE NEXT HOUR.
 
AT SIGNS OF AN IMPENDING STORM...TOWERING THUNDERHEADS...DARKENING
SKIES...LIGHTNING AND INCREASING WINDS...MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY.
TUNE IN NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATION FOR
THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

PHILO/SPEECE

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, 6 hours 19 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 15, 1:52 PM CDT, 6 hours 19 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

*

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 15, 6:15 PM CDT, 1 hour 56 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...DELAYED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
615 PM CDT THU MAY 15 1997

TIME(CDT)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

TIME UNKN  4 MILES SOUTH AND         TX   MCCOOK CO-OP OBSERVER
05/15/97   2 MILES WEST OF MCCOOK         REPORTED LIGHTLY SHREDDED
           HIDALGO                        CORN PLANTS.  OBSERVER
                                          SAID THAT PATH OF SHREDDED
                                          PLANTS EXTENDED ABOUT A MILE
                                          IN LENGTH.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 15, 7:39 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Starr	66 min
May 15, 8:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Hidalgo	62 min
May 15, 9:38 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Jim Hogg	62 min
May 16, 12:11 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Hidalgo, Kenedy, Willacy	59 min
May 16, 1:09 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Cameron, Willacy	61 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.