Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 15, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

March 29, 1997Burnet County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 29, 1997, 9:41 PM CST for Burnet County, Texas. It was in force for 64 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
Mar 29, 1997, 9:41 PM CST (03:41 UTC)
Expired
Mar 29, 1997, 10:45 PM CST
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Burnet County, TX

The radar

The Ft Hood radar (KGRK), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:44 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 29, 9:50 PM CSTHail 0.75Watson, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Mar 29, 4:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 00:00Z, 3.7 hours before the alert went out and 242 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, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 1997-03-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 990 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, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 1997-03-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 95 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
990 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-126 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1782 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
95 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
146 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
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 300341 RRA
SVRSAT
TXC053-300445-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
941 PM CST SAT MAR 29 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1045 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...BURNET COUNTY
 
AT 940 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM SOUTH OF LAMPASSAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. ADDITIONAL
THUNDERSTORMS STRETCHED EAST AND WEST ACROSS THE NORTHERN PARTS OF THE
COUNTY AND WILL CONTINUE TO AFFECT AREAS NORTH OF BURNET FOR THE NEXT
HOUR.
 
PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SH:OULD BE ALERT TO THE POSSIBILITY
OF LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.  FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY
HEAVY RAIN CAN ALSO OCCUR WITH SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...FLOODING SMALL
STREAMS...LOW AREAS...AND LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

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 29, 5:35 PM CST, 4 hours 6 minutes before
TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-301100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
535 PM CST SAT MAR 29 1997

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT TIL 6 PM CST FOR ZAVALA
COUNTY...
...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHERN
PORTIONS OF THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS TIL 11 PM
CST...

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED OVER CENTRAL AND SOUTH
CENTRAL TEXAS TONIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING...AS A WEATHER SYSTEM
APPROACHING FROM THE WEST INTERACTS WITH A COLD FRONT MOVING IN
FROM NORTH TEXAS.

A COLD FRONT WILL ENTER THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY EARLY SUNDAY MORNING
AND OVER SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AROUND AND AFTER SUNRISE.  SCATTERED
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP AHEAD OF THIS FRONT.

ISOLATED TO WIDELY SCATTERED STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE
CURRENTLY DEVELOPING ACROSS SOUTHWEST PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL
TEXAS LATE THIS AFTERNOON IN A VERY UNSTABLE AIRMASS.  THESE STORMS
ARE CURRENTLY PRODUCING RAINFALL AT RATES OF NEAR 2 TO 3 INCHES PER
HOUR BUT BECAUSE THEY ARE THERMALLY INDUCED..THEY SHOULD GREATLY
DIMINISH AND DISSIPATE SHORTLY AFTER SUNSET.

RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1/4 TO 1/2 INCH CAN BE EXPECTED ALONG THE COLD
FRONT LATE TONIGHT INTO EARLY SUNDAY MORNING.

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.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 29, 9:09 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXEdwards66 min
Mar 30, 5:51 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXMedina54 min
Mar 30, 5:57 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXFrio63 min
Mar 30, 7:01 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXFrio59 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.