Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 39, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

April 4, 1997Lavaca County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 4, 1997, 11:46 PM CST for Lavaca County, Texas. It was in force for 29 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
Apr 4, 1997, 11:46 PM CST (05:46 UTC)
Expired
Apr 5, 1997, 12:15 AM CST
In force
29 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Lavaca County, TX

The radar

The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 112 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:47 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Apr 4, 7:15 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 00:00Z, 5.8 hours before the alert went out and 188 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 00:00Z on 1997-04-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3317 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 00:00Z on 1997-04-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 126 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

978 
WUUS1 KSAT 050547 RRA
SVRSAT
TXC285-050615-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
1146 PM CST FRI APR 4 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1215 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...LAVACA COUNTY
 
AT 1145 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM ENTERING
LAVACA COUNTY APPROACHING YOAKUM. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 55 TO 60
MPH. THIS STORM PRODUCED DAMAGING WINDS IN KARNES COUNTY.
 
 
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.
 
 
 
&

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 4, 6:09 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXTravis, Williamson66 min
Apr 4, 7:26 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBastrop64 min
Apr 4, 7:33 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXLee57 min
Apr 4, 8:10 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXWilson65 min
Apr 4, 10:54 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXDeWitt, Karnes51 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.