Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 34, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

April 4, 1997Travis County, Williamson County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 4, 1997, 6:09 PM CST for Travis County, Williamson County, Texas. It was in force for 66 min. 6 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, 6:09 PM CST (00:09 UTC)
Expired: Apr 4, 1997, 7:15 PM CST
In force: 66 min
Issued by: NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area: Whole counties

Counties Travis County, TX, Williamson County, TX

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Apr 4, 6:15 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind 51	Austin, TX
Apr 4, 6:20 PM CST	Hail 0.75	Countywide, TX
Apr 4, 6:20 PM CST	Hail 0.75	Countywide, TX
Apr 4, 6:30 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind 58	Austin, TX
Apr 4, 6:30 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind	Austin, TX	Aircraft were damaged at Robert Mueller Airport by severe wind gusts.
Apr 4, 6:32 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind 51	Countywide, 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Apr 4, 2:15 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 00:00Z, 0.2 hours before the alert went out and 263 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: 13 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -28 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 577 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 36 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -137 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: -87 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSAT 050011 RRA
SVRSAT
TXC453-491-050115-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
609 PM CST FRI APR 4 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  715 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...TRAVIS COUNTY...WILLIAMSON COUNTY
 
AT 609 PM CST...RADAR SHOWED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPING
OVER WESTERN TRAVIS AND WESTERN WILLIAMSON COUNTY...MOVING
NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH.
 
THESE STORMS WILL CAUSE HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WIND AND
HAIL OVER TRAVIS AND WILLIAMSON COUNTY IN THE NEXT HOUR.
 
 
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.
 
PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD 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.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM...TAKE COVER IMMEDIATELY IF YOU ARE IN
ITS PATH.  FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR BUILDING...STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS!  SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS CAN CAUSE AS MUCH DAMAGE AS A TORNADO.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 4, 7:26 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EWX	Bastrop	64 min
Apr 4, 7:33 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EWX	Lee	57 min
Apr 4, 8:10 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EWX	Wilson	65 min
Apr 4, 10:54 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EWX	DeWitt, Karnes	51 min
Apr 4, 11:46 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EWX	Lavaca	29 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 1997 Every 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.