Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 38, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 4, 1997, 10:54 PM CST for DeWitt County, Karnes County, Texas. It was in force for 51 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
- Apr 4, 1997, 10:54 PM CST (04:54 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 4, 1997, 11:45 PM CST
- In force
- 51 min
- Issued by
- NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties DeWitt County, TX, Karnes County, TX
The radar
The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 89 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:54 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, 11:15 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind | Runge, TX | Widespread damage was reported to trees in the Runge area, with many trees blown over by the damaging winds. |
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, 7:15 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 00:00Z, 4.9 hours before the alert went out and 143 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KSAT 050456 RRA SVRSAT TXC123-255-050545- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 1054 PM CST FRI APR 4 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1145 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS ...DE WITT COUNTY...KARNES COUNTY AT 1055 PM CST WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM APPROACHING THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF KARNES COUNTY. THIS STORM WAS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 50 MPH AND WILL RACE ACROSS SOUTHERN KARNES AND DEWITT COUNTIES. ALTHOUGH NO TORNADOES HAVE BEEN DETECTED WITH THIS STORM...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING SO BE ON THE LOOKOUT. 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
Special weather statement, Apr 4, 6:19 PM CST, 4 hours 35 minutes before
TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-051215- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 619 PM CST FRI APR 4 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY AND PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS UNTIL 9 PM TONIGHT. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS THAT WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT FOR SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AND THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR HEAVY RAIN... FLASH FLOODING... AND RIVER FLOODING IN OR NEAR THE WATCH AREA. A STRONG UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM IS MOVING EAST LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND IS LOCATED JUST WEST OF THE BIG BEND AREA. THE ATMOSPHERE HAS BECOME EXTREMELY UNSTABLE AS VERY COLD ALOFT IS APPROACHING SOUTH TEXAS. IN ADDITION...THE AIRMASS REMAINS VERY MOIST. THE STORM SYSTEM WILL PASS OVER SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AND THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY TONIGHT. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE EVENING AND INTO THE EARLY NIGHTTIME HOURS. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE POSSIBLE. RAINFALL TOTALS WILL AVERAGE 1 TO 2 INCHES WITH ISOLATED TOTALS APPROACHING 4 INCHES. AREAS WET FROM RECENT HEAVY RAINS ARE AT PRIME RISK OF FLOODING IF HEAVY RAIN DEVELOPS. 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, Apr 4, 6:20 PM CST, 4 hours 34 minutes before
TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-051215- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 619 PM CST FRI APR 4 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY AND PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS UNTIL 9 PM TONIGHT. A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS THAT WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A FLASH FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT FOR SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AND THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH MEANS WEATHER CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR HEAVY RAIN... FLASH FLOODING... AND RIVER FLOODING IN OR NEAR THE WATCH AREA. A STRONG UPPER LEVEL STORM SYSTEM IS MOVING EAST LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND IS LOCATED JUST WEST OF THE BIG BEND AREA. THE ATMOSPHERE HAS BECOME EXTREMELY UNSTABLE AS VERY COLD ALOFT IS APPROACHING SOUTH TEXAS. IN ADDITION...THE AIRMASS REMAINS VERY MOIST. THE STORM SYSTEM WILL PASS OVER SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AND THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY TONIGHT. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH THE EVENING AND INTO THE EARLY NIGHTTIME HOURS. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE POSSIBLE. RAINFALL TOTALS WILL AVERAGE 1 TO 2 INCHES WITH ISOLATED TOTALS APPROACHING 4 INCHES. AREAS WET FROM RECENT HEAVY RAINS ARE AT PRIME RISK OF FLOODING IF HEAVY RAIN DEVELOPS. 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 4, 6:09 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Travis, Williamson | 66 min |
| 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, 11:46 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Lavaca | 29 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.