Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 71, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 15, 1997, 6:05 PM CDT for Bexar County, Texas. It was in force for 55 min. 4 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
- May 15, 1997, 6:05 PM CDT (23:05 UTC)
- Expired
- May 15, 1997, 7:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 55 min
- Issued by
- NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Bexar County, TX
The radar
The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 55 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:04 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 6:09 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | San Antonio, TX | |
| May 15, 6:15 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | San Antonio, TX | |
| May 15, 6:15 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | San Antonio, TX | |
| May 15, 7:00 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | St Hedwig, TX | Widespread reports received from St. Hedgwick of trees blown over by severe 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 4:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 223 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
- 1447 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -161 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1052 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 32 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 101 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 243 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.2
- Supercell composite
- 7.5
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
192 WUUS1 KSAT 152307 RRA SVRSAT TXC029-160000- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 605 PM CDT THU MAY 15 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 700 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS ...BEXAR COUNTY AT 605 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM OVER NORTHERN SAN ANTONIO. THIS STORM WAS MOVING SLOWLY EAST AND SOUTHEAST. PEOPLE IN SAN ANTONIO SHOULD BE ALERT TO THE POSSIBILITY OF LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS. CALL YOUR REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER TO LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT FOR 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, May 15, 5:58 PM CDT, 7 minutes before
TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-161200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 600 PM CDT THU MAY 15 1997 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT TIL 630 PM CDT FOR FRIO COUNTY... ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PORTION OF THE HILL COUNTRY AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS TIL 11 PM... THIS EVENING..SCATTERED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE ERUPTED OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS...AND THE HILL COUNTRY. CONDITIONS REMAIN RIPE FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING..WITH THE MAIN THREAT BEING FROM LARGE HAIL. REPORTS OF BASEBALL SIZE HAIL HAVE BEEN RECEIVED FROM BULVERDE IN COMAL COUNTY. OTHER REPORTS INCLUDE 1 INCH DIAMETER HAIL IN HINDES IN SOUTHWESTERN ATASCOSA COUNTY. WITHIN METRO SAN ANTONIO..REPORTS OF QUARTER SIZE HAIL HAVE BEEN RECEIVED FROM LEON VALLEY AS WELL AS A REPORT OF PEA SIZE HAIL OVER NORTHWEST LOOP 410. THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL NORMALLY BE UPDATED BY MEANS OF THE ZONE FORECAST...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 IS NO LONGER EXPECTED.
Special weather statement, May 15, 6:00 PM CDT, 5 minutes before
TXZ171>173-183>194-202>209-217>225-228-161200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 600 PM CDT THU MAY 15 1997 ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT TIL 630 PM CDT FOR FRIO COUNTY... ...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR A LARGE PORTION OF THE HILL COUNTRY AND SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS TIL 11 PM... THIS EVENING..SCATTERED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE ERUPTED OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS...AND THE HILL COUNTRY. CONDITIONS REMAIN RIPE FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS EVENING..WITH THE MAIN THREAT BEING FROM LARGE HAIL. REPORTS OF BASEBALL SIZE HAIL HAVE BEEN RECEIVED FROM BULVERDE IN COMAL COUNTY. OTHER REPORTS INCLUDE 1 INCH DIAMETER HAIL IN HINDES IN SOUTHWESTERN ATASCOSA COUNTY. WITHIN METRO SAN ANTONIO..REPORTS OF QUARTER SIZE HAIL HAVE BEEN RECEIVED FROM LEON VALLEY AS WELL AS A REPORT OF PEA SIZE HAIL OVER NORTHWEST LOOP 410. THE HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK WILL NORMALLY BE UPDATED BY MEANS OF THE ZONE FORECAST...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 IS NO LONGER EXPECTED.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 15, 4:03 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Comal | 57 min |
| May 15, 4:12 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Bandera | 63 min |
| May 15, 4:23 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Frio | 67 min |
| May 15, 4:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Dimmit | 60 min |
| May 15, 4:53 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Atascosa | 67 min |
| May 15, 5:02 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Bexar | 58 min |
| May 15, 5:27 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Frio | 63 min |
| May 15, 6:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Llano | 63 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.