Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Brownsville, TX

May 27, 1997Jim Hogg County, Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this tornado warning at May 27, 1997, 11:20 PM CDT for Jim Hogg County, Texas. It was in force for 55 min. 2 reports 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 27, 1997, 11:20 PM CDT (04:20 UTC)
Expired: May 28, 1997, 12:15 AM CDT
In force: 55 min
Issued by: NWS Brownsville, TX
Area: Whole counties

County Jim Hogg County, TX

The radar

The Corpus Christi radar (KCRP), 143 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:20 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 27, 11:45 PM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 70	Guerra, TX
May 28, 12:15 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind	Hebbronville, 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 27, 10:45 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Brownsville Intl, TX (KBRO), launched 00:00Z, 4.3 hours before the alert went out and 181 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: 4398 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -51 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 706 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 2 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: -0.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

318 
WFUS1 KBRO 280421 RRA
TORBRO
TXC247-280515-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
1120 PM CDT TUE MAY 27 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BROWNSVILLE HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1215 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS......
 
IN SOUTH TEXAS
 
   ...NORTHERN JIM-HOGG COUNTY
 
DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO JUST TO THE WEST OF
HEBBRONVILLE IN JIM HOGG COUNTY. THIS IS IN ASSOCIATION WITH A LINE OF
THUNDERSTORMS OVER NORTHERN JIM HOGG COUNTY.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH
OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
 
DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO.  CARS ARE EASILY
TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS.  IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF
A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING.  IF NO
STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 27, 10:23 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Brooks, Jim Hogg, Starr, Zapata	67 min
May 27, 11:28 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Brooks, Jim Hogg	62 min
May 27, 11:57 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Starr	63 min
May 28, 12:23 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Brooks, Hidalgo	67 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1997 Every tornado warning in 1997 Tornadoes 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.