Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 62, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

May 12, 1997Medina County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 12, 1997, 4:17 PM CDT for Medina County, Texas. It was in force for 73 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
May 12, 1997, 4:17 PM CDT (21:17 UTC)
Expired
May 12, 1997, 5:30 PM CDT
In force
73 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Medina County, TX

The radar

The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 112 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:16 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
May 12, 5:00 PM CDTThunderstorm WindLacoste, TXSevere winds blew down large tree limbs.

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 nearest sounding before it

Del Rio, TX (KDRT), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 168 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, Del Rio, TX at 12:00Z on 1997-05-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 943 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, Del Rio, TX at 12:00Z on 1997-05-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 110 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
943 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-77 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
645 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
110 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
151 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
2.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSAT 122119 RRA
SVRSAT
TXC325-122230-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
417 PM CDT MON MAY 12 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  530 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...MEDINA COUNTY
 
AT 415 PM DOPPLER RADAR INIDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IS CROSSING FM
462 AND 1796 IN EXTREME NORTHWEST MEDINA. IT WILL BE IN HONDO BY 5 PM.
 
 
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 THUN|DERSTORMS...FLOODING SMALL
STREAMS...LOW AREAS...AND LOW WATER CROSSINGS.
 
IF YOU SEE SEVERE WEATHER TAKING PLACE...CALL YOUR REPORT TO
THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY FOR IMMEDIATE RELAY TO THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 12, 3:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXVal Verde64 min
May 12, 4:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXVal Verde69 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.