Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 345, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

August 19, 1997Martin County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 19, 1997, 5:56 PM CDT for Martin County, Texas. It was in force for 34 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
Aug 19, 1997, 5:56 PM CDT (22:56 UTC)
Expired
Aug 19, 1997, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
34 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Martin County, TX

The nearest sounding before it

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 46 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, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 1997-08-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3 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, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 1997-08-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 55 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
3 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-272 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1561 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
11 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
55 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
127 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KMAF 192257 RRA
SVRMAF
TXC317-192330-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
556 PM CDT TUE AUG 19 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN MIDLAND TX HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 630 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN NORTHWESTERN TEXAS

   ...SOUTHEASTERN MARTIN COUNTY
 
AT 557 PM CDT...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED BY MIDLAND
DOPPLER RADAR 15 MILES WEST OF GARDEN CITY MOVING SOUTH AT 0 MPH.

THIS STORM IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN IN RURAL AREAS JUST SOUTH OF
SPRABERRY.

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK REFUGE FROM THE WEATHER IN A STRONG
BUILDING. DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN... AND0 DEADLY
LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. STAY INSIDE AWAY
FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.


YOUNG/TURNAGE

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.

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Aug 19, 2:09 PM CDT, 3 hours 47 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 19, 2:09 PM CDT, 3 hours 47 minutes before
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND TX
208 PM CDT (108 PM MDT) TUE AUG 19 1997

KMAF RADAR AT 18Z SHOWS CONVECTION BEGINNING TO DEVELOP ALONG THE
EASTERN SLOPES OF THE GUADALUPE MOUNTAINS OF EDDY AND CULBERSON
COUNTIES ALONG A LOW-LEVEL THETA-E AXIS...WITH CELLS DRIFTING SLOWLY
EASTWARD.  ADAP AT 18Z SHOWS CAP HAS PRACTICALLY ERODED WITH SURFACE
BASED LI FROM -6 TO -8 ACROSS THE REGION.  SATELLITE IMAGERY
ANIMATION SHOWS THE MID/UPPER LEVEL SHEAR AXIS AND ASSOCIATED CLOUD
BAND HAS MOVED SOUTHWARD....EXTENDING FROM THE BIG BEND ACROSS THE
EASTERN PERMIAN BASIN.

THE ETA MODEL BEST REFLECTS THE SOUTHWARD PUSH OF THE MOISTURE PLUME
OVER THE PAST 12 HRS BY SLOWLY DECREASING PRECIP WATER VALUES ON THE
THIS MORNING/S MODEL SOUNDINGS.  THESE MODEL SOUNDINGS MAINTAIN A
WINDEX AROUND 70 AND CAPE VALUES OVER 1000 J/KG FOR LATE THIS
AFTERNOON...WHICH SHOULD GIVE SUFFICIENT LIFT AND MOISTURE FOR WIDELY
SCATTERED CONVECTION INTO THIS EVENING.  AS WEAK WINDS ALOFT
PERSIST...THESE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD GRADUALLY WANE SHORTLY AFTER
SUNSET.

LOOKING AHEAD TO WEDNESDAY...PRECIP WATER VALUES CONTINUE ON THE
DECREASE AS AN UPPER LEVEL RIDGE STRENGTHENS OVER NEW MEXICO.
YET...SUFFICIENT CAPE/INSTABILITIES AND LOW CONVECTION INHIBITION
VALUES PERSIST ON WEDNESDAY FOR CONTINUED WIDELY SCATTERED LATE
AFTERNOON THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS WEST TEXAS AND SOUTHEAST NEW MEXICO.

MAF  69/94  10/10
CNM  69/95  10/10
MRF  60/85  10/10
P07  73/95  10/10

FAGEN/PENDERGRAST

The office that day

Everything else NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 18, 7:19 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFEctor46 min
Aug 18, 7:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFMidland33 min
Aug 18, 7:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFMidland33 min
Aug 18, 7:56 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMAFEctor, Midland2 hr
Aug 18, 8:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFMidland31 min
Aug 18, 8:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFGlasscock47 min
Aug 18, 8:51 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMAFGlasscock, Martin2 hr
Aug 18, 9:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFHoward49 min
Aug 18, 9:43 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMAFHoward107 min
Aug 18, 9:50 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMAFBrewster3 hr
Aug 19, 6:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFMidland35 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.