Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Corpus Christi, TX

April 4, 1997Webb County, Texas

NWS Corpus Christi, TX issued this tornado warning at Apr 4, 1997, 8:53 PM CST for Webb County, Texas. It was in force for 37 min. 3 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: Apr 4, 1997, 8:53 PM CST (02:53 UTC)
Expired: Apr 4, 1997, 9:30 PM CST
In force: 37 min
Issued by: NWS Corpus Christi, TX
Area: Whole counties

County Webb County, TX

The radar

The Corpus Christi radar (KCRP), 179 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:53 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
Apr 4, 9:10 PM CST	Hail 1.75	Laredo, TX	NWS spotter report of golfball sized hail.
Apr 4, 9:22 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind 60	Laredo, TX	DPS report of strong thunderstorm wind.
Apr 4, 9:30 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind 60	Laredo, TX	Public and DPS report of strong thunderstorm wind and an unconfirmed tornado.

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 nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 00:00Z, 2.9 hours before the alert went out and 196 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: 3317 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -46 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 663 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 126 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 107 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 2.1
Supercell composite: 10.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCRP 050253 RRA
TORCRP
TXC479-050330-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
853 PM CST FRI APR 4 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CORPUS CHRISTI HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  930 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY......
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...WEBB COUNTY
 
AT 850 PM DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO CROSSING THE RIO GRANDE
RIVER APPROACHING INTERSTATE 35 AND WEST DEL MAR BLVD. THIS TORNADO IS
MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH AND WILL TRACK ACROSS THE METROPOLITAN
AREA OF LAREDO THROUGH 93O PM.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNInTURE.
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.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 4, 8:30 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CRP	Webb	60 min
Apr 4, 9:25 PM CST	Tornado Warning	CRP	Webb	35 min
Apr 4, 9:26 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CRP	La Salle	64 min
Apr 4, 9:39 PM CST	Tornado Warning	CRP	Duval	51 min
Apr 4, 10:26 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CRP	Live Oak	49 min
Apr 4, 10:40 PM CST	Tornado Warning	CRP	Bee, Live Oak	50 min
Apr 4, 11:10 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CRP	Goliad	65 min
Apr 4, 11:25 PM CST	Tornado Warning	CRP	San Patricio	65 min
Apr 4, 11:31 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CRP	Victoria	44 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.