Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 16, NWS Brownsville, TX
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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 5:30 PM CST | Hail 0.75 | Rio Grande City, TX | |
| Feb 21, 6:15 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind | Mission, TX | Extensive 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 4:00 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 5 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.
- 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
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
67The office that day
Everything else NWS Brownsville, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 3:47 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BRO | Jim Hogg, Zapata | 43 min |
| Feb 21, 4:20 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BRO | Starr | 55 min |
| Feb 21, 4:35 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BRO | Jim Hogg | 60 min |
| Feb 21, 4:42 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BRO | Brooks | 63 min |
| Feb 21, 5:51 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BRO | Brooks, Kenedy | 59 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.