Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 40, NWS Brownsville, TX

June 18, 1997Hidalgo County, Starr County, Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jun 18, 1997, 2:06 AM CDT for Hidalgo County, Starr County, Texas. It was in force for 69 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
Jun 18, 1997, 2:06 AM CDT (07:06 UTC)
Expired
Jun 18, 1997, 3:15 AM CDT
In force
69 min
Issued by
NWS Brownsville, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Hidalgo County, TX, Starr County, TX

The radar

The Brownsville radar (KBRO), 121 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:10 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, 7.1 hours before the alert went out and 124 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 1997-06-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4846 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 1997-06-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 38 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
4846 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
672 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
38 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
18 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KBRO 180709 RRA
SVRBRO
TXC215-427-180815-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
206 AM CDT WED JUN 18 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BROWNSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  315 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...S...
 
IN SOUTH TEXAS
 
   ...HIDALGO COUNTY...EASTERN STARR COUNTY
 
BROWNSVILLE RADAR INDICATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUING ACROSS
EASTERN STARR COUNTY INTO MUCH OF WESTERN AND CENTRAL HIDALGO COUNTY.
LARGE HAIL IS LIKELY ALONG WITH TORRENTIAL RAINS...STRONG GUSTY WINDS
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING. DUE TO THE SLOW MOVEMENT OF THE STORMS...FLOODING
OF LOW LYING AND URBAN AREAS IS ALSO LIKELY. ONLY A SLOW DRIFT TO THE
SOUTHEAST WAS NOTED.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN EXCESS OF 55
MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...DEADLY LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOORp
OF YOUR HOME OR BUSINESS.  HEAVY RAINS FLOOD ROADS QUICKLY SO
DON'T DRIVE INTO AREAS WHERE WATER COVERS THE ROAD.

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 Jun 17, 11:00 PM CDT, 3 hours 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 17, 11:00 PM CDT, 3 hours 6 minutes before
DEEP SOUTH TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
1100 PM CDT TUE JUN 17 1997

BROWNSVILLE RADAR INDICATE THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY DEVELOPING AHEAD OF
AN AREA OF PVA MOVING RAPIDLY EAST.  THIS ACTIVITY IS DEVELOPING RAPIDLY
AND KEEPING 30 PERCENT CHANCE FOR SHOWERS OR THUNDERSTORMS SEEMS TO BE
IN LINE AT THIS TIME.  THIS SYSTEM BEARS WATCHING AS IT IS MOVING
RAPIDLY EAST.

55

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 17, 11:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROBrooks63 min
Jun 17, 11:25 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBROBrooks2 hr
Jun 17, 11:44 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBROZapata2 hr
Jun 17, 11:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROZapata2 hr
Jun 18, 12:44 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROHidalgo, Starr61 min
Jun 18, 4:17 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningBROStarr6 hr

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.