Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 12, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

March 18, 1997DeWitt County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 18, 1997, 11:41 AM CST for DeWitt County, Texas. It was in force for 64 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
Mar 18, 1997, 11:41 AM CST (17:41 UTC)
Expired
Mar 18, 1997, 12:45 PM CST
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County DeWitt County, TX

The radar

The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 95 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:42 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

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 5.7 hours before the alert went out and 150 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 1997-03-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1325 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 1997-03-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 47 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1325 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-62 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
509 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
47 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
88 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSAT 181741 RRA
SVRSAT
TXC123-181845-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
1141 AM CST TUE MAR 18 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1245 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...DE WITT COUNTY
 
AT 11:40 AM RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH LARGE HAIL
AND DAMAGING WINDS 10 MILES WEST OF YORKTOWN. MOVEMENT WAS
NORTHEAST AT 30 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.

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

Special weather statement, Mar 18, 5:53 AM CST, 5 hours 48 minutes before
TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-190000-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
600 AM CST TUE MAR 18 1997

A DENSE FOG ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT THROUGH 9 AM FOR THE HILL COUNTRY
AND PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS.

AREAS OF FOG WITH VISIBILITIES OF 1/4 MILE OR LESS WILL CONTINUE
ACROSS THE HILL COUNTRY AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS THROUGH MID MORNING.
THEN THE FOG WILL LIFT WITH VISIBILITIES IMPROVING TO GREATER THAN
7 MILES BY 10 AM.  WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS ARE
POSSIBLE UNTIL 9 AM.

A COLD FRONT AND UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE IN THE NORTHWEST
HILL COUNTRY AROUND NOON AND ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE HILL COUNTRY
AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON.  WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE OVER THE HILL COUNTRY AND SOUTHERN EDWARDS
PLATEAU DURING THE DAY...WHILE SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
WILL DEVELOP OVER SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS BY THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE
INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS.

RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL GENERALLY AVERAGE ONE TENTH OF AN INCH OR LESS
WITH ISOLATED TOTALS AROUND ONE-HALF INCH.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE
NOT EXPECTED OVER THE HILL COUNTRY AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS.

THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NORMALLY WILL BE UPDATED BY MEANS OF
THE ZONE FORECASTS...SHORT TERM FORECASTS...WATCHES...WARNINGS AND
ADVISORIES.  THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK ITSELF WILL BE UPDATED
ONLY IF UNFORECAST HAZARDOUS WEATHER DEVELOPS OR IF FORECAST
HAZARDOUS WEATHER NO LONGER IS EXPECTED.
Special weather statement, Mar 18, 6:00 AM CST, 5 hours 41 minutes before
TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-190000-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
600 AM CST TUE MAR 18 1997

A DENSE FOG ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT THROUGH 9 AM FOR THE HILL COUNTRY
AND PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS.

AREAS OF FOG WITH VISIBILITIES OF 1/4 MILE OR LESS WILL CONTINUE
ACROSS THE HILL COUNTRY AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS THROUGH MID MORNING.
THEN THE FOG WILL LIFT WITH VISIBILITIES IMPROVING TO GREATER THAN
7 MILES BY 10 AM.  WIDESPREAD HAZARDOUS DRIVING CONDITIONS ARE
POSSIBLE UNTIL 9 AM.

A COLD FRONT AND UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE IN THE NORTHWEST
HILL COUNTRY AROUND NOON AND ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE HILL COUNTRY
AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON.  WIDELY SCATTERED SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS ARE POSSIBLE OVER THE HILL COUNTRY AND SOUTHERN EDWARDS
PLATEAU DURING THE DAY...WHILE SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
WILL DEVELOP OVER SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS BY THIS AFTERNOON AND CONTINUE
INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS.

RAINFALL AMOUNTS WILL GENERALLY AVERAGE ONE TENTH OF AN INCH OR LESS
WITH ISOLATED TOTALS AROUND ONE-HALF INCH.  SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE
NOT EXPECTED OVER THE HILL COUNTRY AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS.

THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NORMALLY WILL BE UPDATED BY MEANS OF
THE ZONE FORECASTS...SHORT TERM FORECASTS...WATCHES...WARNINGS AND
ADVISORIES.  THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK ITSELF WILL BE UPDATED
ONLY IF UNFORECAST HAZARDOUS WEATHER DEVELOPS OR IF FORECAST
HAZARDOUS WEATHER NO LONGER IS EXPECTED.

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.