Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 108, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 27, 1997, 8:40 PM CDT for DeWitt County, Lavaca County, Texas. It was in force for 65 min. 1 report 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, 8:40 PM CDT (01:40 UTC)
- Expired
- May 27, 1997, 9:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 65 min
- Issued by
- NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties DeWitt County, TX, Lavaca County, TX
The radar
The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 100 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:39 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, 9:25 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Countywide, TX | Trees and power lines were knocked down by severe winds across much of the county. |
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
Del Rio, TX (KDRT), launched 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 359 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 5979 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -15 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 887 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 38 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 11 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 91 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.1
- Supercell composite
- 6.8
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
426 WUUS1 KSAT 280139 RRA SVRSAT TXC123-255-285-493-280245- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 840 PM CDT TUE MAY 27 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 945 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS ...DE WITT COUNTY...KARNES COUNTY...LAVACA COUNTY ...WILSON COUNTY AT 835 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDING FROM JOURDANTON TO KARNES CITY TO CUERO AND HALLETTSVILLE. MOVEMENT WAS TOWARDS THE SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH. SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WINDS CAN REACH SPEEDS OVER 60 MPH. THESE WINDS BLOW DOWN TREES...POWER LINES...AND SEVERELY DAMAGE MOBILE HOMES... SOMETIMES BUILDINGS. VERY LARGE HAIL CAN INJURE ANYONE CAUGHT OUTSIDE. IF YOU SEE SEVERE WEATHER TAKING PLACE...CALL YOUR REPORT TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY FOR IMMEDIATE RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.
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.
In the hours before
Local storm report, May 27, 4:45 PM CDT, 3 hours 55 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TEXAS
445 PM CDT TUE MAY 27 1997
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
0405 PM JARRELL TX TORNADO
05/27/97 WILLIAMSON REPORTS OF FATALITIES AND
MULTIPLE INJURIES
0415 PM CEDAR PARK TX TORNADO
05/27/97 WILLIAMSON REPORT OF GROCERY STORE
COLLAPSE IN CEDAR PARK.
REPORTS OF FATALITIES AND
MULTIPLE INJURIESSpecial weather statement, May 27, 5:05 PM CDT, 3 hours 35 minutes before
TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-281000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 506 PM CDT TUE MAY 27 1997 ...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CDT FOR SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AND THE HILL COUNTRY... A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL BECOME STATIONARY ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS TONIGHT AND PROVIDE THE FOCUS FOR SEVERE WEATHER THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THE ATMOSPHERE IS VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE ACROSS THE REGION THIS EVENING AND CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF SCATTERED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL... DAMAGING WINDS... ISOLATED TORNADOES AND VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. THIS ACTIVITY WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS AND DECREASE IN SEVERITY LATER TONIGHT. THIS SYSTEM WILL EVOLVE INTO A HEAVY RAIN EVENT OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS... THE HILL COUNTRY AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS LATE TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY WITH ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL AVERAGE FROM 1/2 TO 1 INCH WITH ISOLATED TOTALS NEAR 3 INCHES POSSIBLE WHERE THUNDERSTORMS MERGE OR REDEVELOP ACROSS A PARTICULAR LOCATION. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MAY BE REQUIRED LATER TONIGHT ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTH TEXAS. THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL NORMALLY BE UPDATED BY MEANS OF THE ZONE FORECAST...SHORT TERM FORECAST...WATCHES...WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES. THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK ITSELF WILL BE UPDATED ONLY IF UNFORECAST HAZARDOUS WEATHER DEVELOPS OR IF FORECAST HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NO LONGER EXPECTED.
Special weather statement, May 27, 5:06 PM CDT, 3 hours 34 minutes before
TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-281000- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 506 PM CDT TUE MAY 27 1997 ...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM CDT FOR SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AND THE HILL COUNTRY... A WEAK COLD FRONT WILL BECOME STATIONARY ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS TONIGHT AND PROVIDE THE FOCUS FOR SEVERE WEATHER THROUGH WEDNESDAY. THE ATMOSPHERE IS VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE ACROSS THE REGION THIS EVENING AND CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF SCATTERED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL... DAMAGING WINDS... ISOLATED TORNADOES AND VERY HEAVY RAINFALL. THIS ACTIVITY WILL PERSIST THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS AND DECREASE IN SEVERITY LATER TONIGHT. THIS SYSTEM WILL EVOLVE INTO A HEAVY RAIN EVENT OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS... THE HILL COUNTRY AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS LATE TONIGHT INTO WEDNESDAY WITH ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL AVERAGE FROM 1/2 TO 1 INCH WITH ISOLATED TOTALS NEAR 3 INCHES POSSIBLE WHERE THUNDERSTORMS MERGE OR REDEVELOP ACROSS A PARTICULAR LOCATION. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MAY BE REQUIRED LATER TONIGHT ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTH TEXAS. THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL NORMALLY BE UPDATED BY MEANS OF THE ZONE FORECAST...SHORT TERM FORECAST...WATCHES...WARNINGS AND ADVISORIES. THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK ITSELF WILL BE UPDATED ONLY IF UNFORECAST HAZARDOUS WEATHER DEVELOPS OR IF FORECAST HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NO LONGER EXPECTED.
Special weather statement, May 27, 8:07 PM CDT, 33 minutes before
TXZ169>173-280415- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 809 PM CDT TUE MAY 27 1997 THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES HAVE BEEN CLEARED FROM THE TORNADO WATCH... KIMBLE...MASON...LLANO...BURNET AND WILLIAMSON. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE STILL POSSIBLE THROUGH TONIGHT WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE.
Special weather statement, May 27, 8:09 PM CDT, 31 minutes before
TXZ169>173-280415- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 809 PM CDT TUE MAY 27 1997 THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES HAVE BEEN CLEARED FROM THE TORNADO WATCH... KIMBLE...MASON...LLANO...BURNET AND WILLIAMSON. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE STILL POSSIBLE THROUGH TONIGHT WITH LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 27, 7:22 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Edwards, Kerr, Val Verde | 98 min |
| May 27, 7:27 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | EWX | Blanco, Kendall | 3 hr |
| May 27, 7:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Gonzales | 56 min |
| May 27, 7:38 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Frio | 97 min |
| May 27, 7:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Medina | 68 min |
| May 27, 8:00 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | EWX | Bexar | 60 min |
| May 27, 8:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Bexar | 60 min |
| May 27, 8:01 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | EWX | Gonzales | 59 min |
| May 27, 8:13 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | EWX | Val Verde | 2 hr |
| May 27, 8:13 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | EWX | Bandera | 2 hr |
| May 27, 8:18 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | EWX | Frio | 57 min |
| May 27, 8:19 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Atascosa | 56 min |
| May 27, 8:29 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | EWX | Gonzales | 3 hr |
| May 27, 8:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Karnes, Wilson | 65 min |
| May 27, 8:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Val Verde | 69 min |
| May 27, 8:58 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | EWX | Frio | 2 hr |
| May 27, 9:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Dimmit | 85 min |
| May 27, 9:39 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | EWX | Karnes | 3 hr |
| May 27, 9:56 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | EWX | Fayette | 3 hr |
| May 27, 10:03 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Val Verde | 102 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.