Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

May 27, 1997Kendall County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this tornado warning at May 27, 1997, 6:56 PM CDT for Kendall County, Texas. It was in force for 64 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 27, 1997, 6:56 PM CDT (23:56 UTC)
Expired
May 27, 1997, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Kendall County, TX

The radar

The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 71 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:59 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 27, 7:30 PM CDTTornado F0Sisterdale, TXAmateur Radio spotters observed a small , short-lived tornado near Sisterdale.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 27, 3:45 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Del Rio, TX (KDRT), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 215 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 1997-05-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 5551 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 1997-05-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 45 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
5551 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-96 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
817 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
45 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
91 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
5.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

805 
WFUS1 KSAT 272355 RRA
TORSAT
TXC259-280100-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
656 PM CDT TUE MAY 27 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...KENDALL COUNTY
 
AT 655 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORMS JUST SOUTH OF
SISTERDALE MOVING TOWARDS THE SOUTH AT 15 MPH. THIS TORNADIC STORM IS
MOVING ALONG FM1376 TOEARDS BOERNE. STRONG THUNDERSTORMS WERE ALSO
EFFECTING MUCH OF THE COUNTY.
 
PEOPLE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION
TO PROTECT THEIR LIVES.  GO TO THE CENTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR
BUILDING...COVER YOUR HEAD.  STAY AWAY FROM DOORS AND WINDOWS.  DO
NOT STAY IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...GET INTO A STURDY BUILDING.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM...ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH
OF THIS TORNADO...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR
OF A STURDY BUILDING.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 27, 3:30 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXWilliamson60 min
May 27, 3:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXEdwards56 min
May 27, 3:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXReal62 min
May 27, 4:09 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXTravis66 min
May 27, 4:26 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXEdwards, Real2 hr
May 27, 4:32 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXTravis, Williamson118 min
May 27, 4:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXWilliamson68 min
May 27, 4:49 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXEdwards56 min
May 27, 4:58 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXHays62 min
May 27, 5:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXTravis56 min
May 27, 5:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBlanco66 min
May 27, 5:37 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXUvalde98 min
May 27, 5:37 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXUvalde98 min
May 27, 5:52 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXKendall68 min
May 27, 5:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBastrop, Caldwell2 hr
May 27, 6:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXHays59 min
May 27, 6:06 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXVal Verde69 min
May 27, 6:14 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXComal61 min
May 27, 6:24 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXUvalde36 min
May 27, 6:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXEdwards62 min
May 27, 6:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXGuadalupe61 min
May 27, 6:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBexar91 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.