Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 22, NWS Brownsville, TX

May 16, 1997Hidalgo County, Kenedy County, Willacy County, Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 16, 1997, 12:11 AM CDT for Hidalgo County, Kenedy County, Willacy County, Texas. It was in force for 59 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 16, 1997, 12:11 AM CDT (05:11 UTC)
Expired: May 16, 1997, 1:10 AM CDT
In force: 59 min
Issued by: NWS Brownsville, TX
Area: Whole counties

Counties Hidalgo County, TX, Kenedy County, TX, Willacy County, TX

The radar

The Brownsville radar (KBRO), 85 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:13 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 16, 12:20 AM CDT	Hail 0.75	Mc Cook, 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 15, 8:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Brownsville Intl, TX (KBRO), launched 00:00Z, 5.2 hours before the alert went out and 88 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: 2862 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 589 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 33 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.4
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 160511 RRA
SVRBRO
TXC215-261-489-TXZ512-160610-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
1211 AM CDT FRI MAY 16 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BROWNSVILLE TX HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 110 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHERN TEXAS

   ...KENEDY COUNTY
   ...HIDALGO COUNTY
   ...WILLACY COUNTY

AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS OF THE LOWER TEXAS COAST AND BAY
WATERS OF THE LAGUNA MADRE.
 
AT 1210 AM...BROWNSVILLE DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A LINE OF SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS FROM NORTHEAST KENEDY COUNTY THROUGH NORTHERN HIDALGO
COUNTY.  THESE STORMS WERE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT AROUND 20 MPH AND
WILL PRODUCE LARGE HAIL...DAMAGING THUNDERSTORM WINDS AND TORRENTIAL
RAINS.  SOME CITIES AND TOWNS IN THE PATH OF THESE STORMS ARE
MCCOOK...SAN MANUEL AND RAYMONDVILLE.
 
AT SIGNS OF AN IMPENDING STORM...TOWERING THUNDERHEADS...DARKENING
SKI0ES...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.

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, 8:30 PM CDT, 3 hours 41 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 15, 8:30 PM CDT, 3 hours 41 minutes before

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

BUSY WITH STATEMENTS AND WARNINGS ATTM.  STG/SVR CONV CURRENTLY
OVER THE REGION NEARLY STATIONARY.  THE WORD FROM SPC IS THAT SVR
-STORM WATCH WILL BE ISSUED SHORTLY.

SO FOR TXZ248>255...

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 AM FRIDAY
MORNING...

.REST OF TONIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF
SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS.  LOCALLY HEAVY RAINS...LARGE HAIL AND
DAMAGING WINDS POSSIBLE.  LOWS IN THE LOWER 70S.  EAST TO SOUTHEAST
WIND 5 TO 10 MPH...HIGHER GUSTS IN THE VICINITY OF THE
THUNDERSTORMS.

60

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 15, 6:15 PM CDT, 5 hours 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.

Special weather statement, May 15, 9:00 PM CDT, 3 hours 11 minutes before

TXZ248>255-514-160545-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
900 PM CDT THU MAY 15 1997

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF DEEP SOUTH
TEXAS UNTIL 1 AM FRIDAY MORNING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
FOR ALL DEEP SOUTH TEXAS INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
ZAPATA...JIM HOGG...STARR...HIDALGO...BROOKS...WILLACY...KENEDY AND
CAMERON COUNTIES. THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF BROWNSVILLE...MCALLEN
AND HARLINGEN.

LARGE HAIL...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.  PERSONS IN
THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER AND
LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...YOUR COMMERCIAL TV AND RADIO
STATIONS OR YOUR LOCAL CABLE PROVIDER FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER
STATEMENTS.

60

Special weather statement, May 15, 9:01 PM CDT, 3 hours 10 minutes before

TXZ248>255-514-160545-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
900 PM CDT THU MAY 15 1997

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF DEEP SOUTH
TEXAS UNTIL 1 AM FRIDAY MORNING...

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
FOR ALL DEEP SOUTH TEXAS INCLUDING THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES...
ZAPATA...JIM HOGG...STARR...HIDALGO...BROOKS...WILLACY...KENEDY AND
CAMERON COUNTIES. THIS INCLUDES THE CITIES OF BROWNSVILLE...MCALLEN
AND HARLINGEN.

LARGE HAIL...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS UP TO 60 MPH AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS THAT CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.  PERSONS IN
THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER AND
LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...YOUR COMMERCIAL TV AND RADIO
STrATIONS OR YOUR LOCAL CABLE PROVIDER FOR ADDITIONAL WEATHER
STATEMENTS.

60

Local storm report, May 15, 10:36 PM CDT, 1 hour 35 minutes before

PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
1036 PM CDT THU MAY 15 1997

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

0545 PM                              TX   .5 INCH HAIL
05/15/97   STARR                          FIRE CHIEF IN LA CASITA
                                          REPORTED MARBLE-SIZE HAIL
                                          5 MILES E OF RGC

0739 PM    SAN CARLOS                TX   1.75 INCH HAIL
05/15/97   STARR                          SPOTTER FM SAN CARLOS
                                          GROCERY STORE REPORTED
                                          GOLFBALL-SIZE HAIL.

0840 PM                              TX   .5 INCH HAIL
05/15/97   HIDALGO                        SPOTTER AT MENDOZA
                                          RESIDENCE REPORTED
                                          MARBLE-SIZE HAIL AND
                                          DAMAGE TO OUT-BUILDINGS.

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, 8:11 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Brooks	59 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, 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.