Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Brownsville, TX

April 3, 1997Starr County, Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 3, 1997, 9:27 PM CST for Starr County, Texas. It was in force for 63 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
Apr 3, 1997, 9:27 PM CST (03:27 UTC)
Expired
Apr 3, 1997, 10:30 PM CST
In force
63 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 03:28 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

Brownsville Intl, TX (KBRO), launched 00:00Z, 3.5 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Brownsville Intl, TX at 00:00Z on 1997-04-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1531 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, Brownsville Intl, TX at 00:00Z on 1997-04-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 47 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1531 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-122 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
749 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
50 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
47 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
18 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
2.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBRO 040328 RRA
SVRBRO
TXC427-040430-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
927 PM CST THU APR 3 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BROWNSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS......
 
IN SOUTH TEXAS
 
   ...STARR COUNTY
 
AT 925 PM...BROWNSVILLE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 5
MILES SOUTH OF ROMA MOVING NORTH NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. THIS SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM WILL BE PASSING OVER SOUTHERN STARR COUNTY...NEAR ROMA
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 Apr 3, 8:31 PM CST, 56 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Apr 3, 8:31 PM CST, 56 minutes before
DEEP SOUTH TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
830 PM CST FRI APR 4 1997

PLS INCREASE POPS CWA TO 30 PERCENT BASED ON CURRENT 88-D. WINDS
HAVE DIED OFF MORE THAT XPECTED AN CEILING IS DROPPING AND VSBY
DROPPING IN BR. MIGHT DROP WINDY IN FCST AND ADD "SCATTERED PATCHES
OF FOG" AS IT LOOKS AS IF WE'LL BE SOCKED IN SHORTLY. REMAINDER OF
FCST OK.
61

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Apr 3, 8:48 PM CST, 39 minutes before
TXZ248-249-250-251-252-253-254-255-040445-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
848 PM CST THU APR 3 1997

....THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING OVER DEEP SOUTH TEXAS AND
ADJACENT MEXICO...

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING QUICKLY OVER EXTREME WESTERN
COUNTIES OF DEEP SOUTH TEXAS AND ADJACENT MEXICO. THESE SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE PASSING OVER THE INLAND COUNTIES OF DEEP SOUTH
TEXAS THIS EVENING.

STRONG GUSTY WINDS...ALONG WITH DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND SOME SMALL HAIL
ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS. ALSO...THE ATMOSPHERE IS UNSTABLE
ENOUGH THIS EVENING TO ALLOW FURTHER DEVELOPMENT. PERSONS IN DEEP SOUTH
TEXAS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT TO QUICKLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS THIS
EVENING.

CONTINUE TO MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL RADIO...TELEVISION
AND CABLE...FOR WEATHER INFORMATION.
Special weather statement, Apr 3, 8:49 PM CST, 38 minutes before
TXZ248-249-250-251-252-253-254-255-040445-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
848 PM CST THU APR 3 1997

....THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING OVER DEEP SOUTH TEXAS AND
ADJACENT MEXICO...

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE DEVELOPING QUICKLY OVER EXTREME WESTERN
COUNTIES OF DEEP SOUTH TEXAS AND ADJACENT MEXICO. THESE SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE PASSING OVER THE INLAND COUNTIES OF DEEP SOUTH
TEXAS THIS EVENING.

STRONG GUSTY WINDS...ALONG WITH DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND SOME SMALL HAIL
ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE THUNDERSTORMS. ALSO...THE ATMOSPHERE IS UNSTABLE
ENOUGH THIS EVENING TO ALLOW FURTHER DEVELOPMENT. PERSONS IN DEEP SOUTH
TEXAS SHOULD REMAIN ALERT TO QUIC:KLY CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS THIS
EVENING.

CONTINUE TO MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL RADIO...TELEVISION
AND CABLE...FOR WEATHER INFORMATION.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 3, 10:07 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROHidalgo68 min
Apr 3, 11:09 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROHidalgo66 min
Apr 4, 4:08 AM CSTTornado WarningBROCameron37 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.