Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 17, NWS Brownsville, TX

February 21, 1998Brooks County, Kenedy County, Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 21, 1998, 5:51 PM CST for Brooks County, Kenedy County, Texas. It was in force for 59 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
Feb 21, 1998, 5:51 PM CST (23:51 UTC)
Expired
Feb 21, 1998, 6:50 PM CST
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Brownsville, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Brooks County, TX, Kenedy County, TX

The radar

The Corpus Christi radar (KCRP), 98 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:55 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.

The watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Feb 21, 3:00 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr
Feb 21, 4:00 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 hours before the alert went out and 102 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 1998-02-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 1998-02-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 255 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
857 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
255 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
424 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 KBRO 212350 RRA
SVRBRO
TXC047-261-220050-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
551 PM CST SAT FEB 21 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BROWNSVILLE TX HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 650 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN SOUTHERN TEXAS

   ...BROOKS COUNTY
   ...KENEDY COUNTY


AT 545 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR IN
BROWNSVILLE INDICATED AN AREA OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER EASTERN
BROOKS COUNTY.  THESE STORMS WERE MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH AND HAVE A
HISTORY OF PRODUCING LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.  THESE STORMS
WILL MOVE INTO KENEDY COUNTY BY 610 PM AND WILL AFFECT THE TOWNS OF
RACHAL AND SARITA IN ADDITION TO THE HIGHWAY 77 CORRIDOR THROUGH 650
PM.

A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA. REMEMBER...
SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH
LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING. REMAIN CALM BUT BE ALERT TO RAPIDLY
CHANGING WEATHER CONDITIONS.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...RADIO OR TELEVISION...OR YOUR
LOCAL CABLE OUTLET FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THIS SEVERE WEATHER
SITUATION.

SPEECE

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 36 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 21, 2:15 PM CST, 3 hours 36 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, 5:18 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROHidalgo, Starr87 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.