Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 16, NWS Brownsville, TX

February 21, 1998Hidalgo County, Starr County, Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 21, 1998, 5:18 PM CST for Hidalgo County, Starr County, Texas. It was in force for 87 min. 2 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
Feb 21, 1998, 5:18 PM CST (23:18 UTC)
Expired
Feb 21, 1998, 6:45 PM CST
In force
87 min
Issued by
NWS Brownsville, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Hidalgo County, TX, Starr County, TX

The radar

The Brownsville radar (KBRO), 121 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:19 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
Feb 21, 5:30 PM CSTHail 0.75Rio Grande City, TX
Feb 21, 6:15 PM CSTThunderstorm WindMission, TXExtensive tree damage.

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
Feb 21, 4:00 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Brownsville Intl, TX (KBRO), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 124 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, Brownsville Intl, TX at 12:00Z on 1998-02-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Brownsville Intl, TX at 12:00Z on 1998-02-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 200 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
2 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
708 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
200 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
398 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 Brownsville, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Feb 21, 2:15 PM CST, 3 hours 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 21, 2:15 PM CST, 3 hours 3 minutes before
DEEP SOUTH TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
215 PM CST SAT FEB 21 1998

STRONG STORM SYSTEM AS SHOWN BY CURRENT WATER VAPOR AND VISIBLE LOOP
TO BE JUST SOUTH OF THE BIG BEND OVER NORTHERN MEXICO.  THIS
VERIFIES NICELY FROM WHAT WAS FORECASTED BY THE 15Z RUC.  THE RUC
TAKES THE VORT TO A POSITION OVER THE RIO GRANDE NEAR LRD BETWEEN
00 AND 03Z TONIGHT. ETA GRIDDS AND HOURLY SOUNDINGS SHOW CAP TO
DIMINISH QUICKLY THIS AFTERNOON AS COLD ADVECTION ALOFT MOVES OVER
THE AREA AS STORM APPROACHES. FORECASTED CAPES NEAR 2000 AND LIS
NEAR -10 MEAN THAT ANY STORMS THAT DO BREAK THE CAP WILL LIKELY GO
SEVERE.

SATELLITE DERIVED LIS AT 1800GMT SHOW -6 NEAR FALCON LAKE WITH
CAPES NEAR 1500.  SATELLITE DERIVED BRO SOUNDING FOR 1730GMT SHOWS
MID LEVEL CAP NEARLY ERODED.  CURRENT SE WINDS OF 30 KNOTS WILL
OBVIOUS FEED STORMS SOMEWHERE...QUESTION IS WHERE.  LATEST ADAP
SHOWS GOOD SURFACE MOISTURE CONVERGENCE JUST TO OUR NORTH WITH LIS
DROPPING.
MOUNTAINS SOUTH OF DRT.  CLEARING NOW OVER THE WESTERN VALLEY WILL
AID IN DESTABILIZING THE ATMOSHPHERE

MODELS ARE DEVELOPING MOST RAIN TO THE NORTH OF AREA BUT FEEL THAT
ACTIVITY WILL DEVELOP OVER OUR CWA...IF NOT AHEAD OF THE SFC
TROF/FRONT...MAYBE ALONG THE TROF THIS EVENING AS IT PUSHES THROUGH
SOMETIME AROUND 03Z. TIME SECTIONS OVER BRO SOME STRONG STABILITY
AND A DRY ATMOSPHERE TO QUICKLY DEVELOP AS THE SFC LOW MOVES INTO
THE NORTHWEST GULF OF MEXICO TOWARD THE LA COAST BY 12Z MON.  THIS
SHOULD MEAN DECREASING CLOUDS AFTER MIDNIGHT WITH MOSTLY SUNNY ON
SUN AND MON.  SFC LOW DOES NOT DEVELOP INTO SOMETHING EXTRAORDINARY
SO NW WINDS ON SUN WILL ONLY BE MODERATE.

HEAVY RAIN AND FLOOD POTENTIAL WILL BE MAX TO THE NORTH WHERE
RAINFALL HAS OCCURRED THE PAST FEW MONTHS.  SPEED OF SYSTEM AND
RELATIVELY LOW PW VALUES WILL LIKELY KEEP FLOODING TO A MINIMUM
ALTHOUGH LOW WATER AREAS COULD FILL UP QUICKLY WITH THE STRONG
STORMS.

IN THE EXTENDED...TROF MOVES QUICKLY TO THE EAST COAST BY MONDAY
EVENING AS NEXT STORM MOVES INTO THE GREAT BASIN ON TUESDAY. STRONG
SFC LOW DEVELOPS OVER THE EASTERN SLOPES OF THE ROCKIES.  THIS
COMBINED WITH WEAK HIGH PRESSURE OVER THE GULF WILL MAKE FOR A
WINDY MID WEEK. TUES SHOULD BE MOSTLY SUNNY AND WINDY.  WED...PC
AND WINDY.  THURS...PC WITH SLIGHT CHANCE SH/TS.  TEMPS SHOULD WARM
NICELY WITH THE STRONG SOUTH WINDS.

TONIGHT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 50 PERCENT CHANCE FOR SH/TS.
         SOME POSSIBLY SEVERE.  SE WIND 15 TO 25 MPH AND GUSTY
         SHIFTING TO THE NORTHWEST LATE.
SUNDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY.  NORTHWEST WINDS 10 TO 15 MPH.
SUNDAY NIGHT...MOSTLY CLEAR
MONDAY...MOSTLY SUNNY.

BRO  UU  53/78/54/82  50/00/00/00
MFE  UU  53/79/53/83  50/00/00/00
RGC  UU  51/81/52/84  50/00/00/00
SPI  UU  55/73/57/76  50/00/00/00

67

The office that day

Everything else NWS Brownsville, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 21, 3:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROJim Hogg, Zapata43 min
Feb 21, 4:20 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROStarr55 min
Feb 21, 4:35 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROJim Hogg60 min
Feb 21, 4:42 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROBrooks63 min
Feb 21, 5:51 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROBrooks, Kenedy59 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 1998Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1998

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.