Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 7, NWS Corpus Christi, TX

April 4, 1997Bee County, Live Oak County, Texas

NWS Corpus Christi, TX issued this tornado warning at Apr 4, 1997, 10:40 PM CST for Bee County, Live Oak County, Texas. It was in force for 50 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: Apr 4, 1997, 10:40 PM CST (04:40 UTC)
Expired: Apr 4, 1997, 11:30 PM CST
In force: 50 min
Issued by: NWS Corpus Christi, TX
Area: Whole counties

Counties Bee County, TX, Live Oak County, TX

The radar

The Corpus Christi radar (KCRP), 79 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:44 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, 11:00 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind 60	Three Rivers, TX	Several large trees downed over power lines resulting in numerous power outages.
Apr 4, 11:00 PM CST	Hail 1.75	Pettus, TX	Police report of golfball sized hail.

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
Apr 4, 9:15 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	7 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 00:00Z, 4.7 hours before the alert went out and 93 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 050440 RRA
TORCRP
TXC025-297-050530-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
1040 PM CST FRI APR 4 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CORPUS CHRISTI HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1130 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY...S...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...BEE COUNTY...LIVE OAK COUNTY
 
AT 1035 PM DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM
WITH A POSSIBLE TORNADO LOCATED 2 MILES SOUTHEAST OF THREE RIVERS.
ALSO GOLF BALL SIZE HAIL AND 60 MPH WINDS HAVE BEEN REPORTED IN
THE TOWN OF GEORGE WEST IN ASSOCIATION WITH THIS STORM.  THIS
STORM IS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH...AND WILL AFFECT THE
TOWNS OF PAWNEE AND MINERAL THROUGH 1115 PM.  IF YOU ARE IN THE
PATH OF THIS STORM TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL :INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
 
 
 
&

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, 8:53 PM CST	Tornado Warning	CRP	Webb	37 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, 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.