Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 13, NWS Corpus Christi, TX

January 31, 1998Aransas County, Texas

NWS Corpus Christi, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Jan 31, 1998, 4:00 PM CST for Aransas County, Texas. It was in force for 90 min. 3 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
Jan 31, 1998, 4:00 PM CST (22:00 UTC)
Expired
Jan 31, 1998, 5:30 PM CST
In force
90 min
Issued by
NWS Corpus Christi, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Aransas County, TX

The radar

The Corpus Christi radar (KCRP), 50 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:59 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
Jan 31, 4:12 PM CSTHail 0.75Rockport, TX
Jan 31, 4:22 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 60Rockport, TXStrong thunderstorm wind gusts reported by spotter.
Jan 31, 4:50 PM CSTHail 0.75Rockport, TX

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 nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 41 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 1998-01-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 318 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 1998-01-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 64 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
318 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
686 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
49 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
123 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

081 
WUUS1 KCRP 312203 RRA
SVRCRP
TXC007-312330-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
400 PM CST SAT JAN 31 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CORPUS CHRISTI HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING
EFFECTIVE UNTIL  530 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY......
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...ARANSAS COUNTY
 
AT 355 PM CST DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 8 MILES
NORTHWEST OF ROCKPORT OVER COPANO BAY. THIS STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST
AT 20 MPH AND WILL MOVE THROUGH THE CITIES OF ROCKPORT AND FULTON BY 425
PM CST. LARGE HAIL UP TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER AND STRONG DAMAGING WINDS
ARE LIKELY. MARINERS IN THE COASTAL WATERS OF ARANSAS BAY SHOULD MOVE TO
SAFE HARBOR IMMEDIATELY. WIND GUSTS TO 45 KTS ARE POSSIBLE OVER THE OPEN
WATER.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER FROM THE WEATHER IN A
STRONG BUILDING.  DAMAGING WIND...LARGE HAIL...VERY HEAVY RAIN...
AND DEADLY LIGHTNING ARE ALL POSSIBLE IN SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS.
STAY INSIDE AND AWAY FROM WINDOWS UNTIL THE STORM HAS PASSED.

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 Corpus Christi, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Jan 31, 1:55 PM CST, 2 hours 5 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 31, 1:55 PM CST, 2 hours 5 minutes before
COASTAL BEND FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED PRELIM 1ST PERIOD ZONES
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
155 PM CST SAT JAN 31 1998

BEEN BUSY SO WL KP IT AS SHORT AS TIME PERMITS. BASE REF LOOPS INDICATE
LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS...WITH ONE CELL NEAR BEE AND
LIVE OAK COUNTIES THAT HAS HELD A MESO FOR OVR AN HOUR NOW. MULTIPLE
REPORTS OF MARBLE TO DIME SIZE HAIL FROM THREE RIVERS TO OAKVILLE.
CONVECTION HAS BEEN SUPPORTED BY LOW AND MID LVL VERTICAL SHEAR AND
SLIGHT TO MODERATE INSTABILITY AND SHUD PERSIST AS WEAKENING S/W
TRACKS EWD THRU THIS AFTERNOON. TSRA WL BE FOCUSED ALONG A WARM FNT
LOCATED FM N OF CRP TO SAT AND AHEAD OF WK SFC TROF WHICH IS NOTED FM
ADAP SMC CHART SHOWS LARGE AREA OF MOISTURE CONVERGENCE FM DRT-LRD-CRP.

S/W CURRENTLY PRODUCING SVR WX ACROSS THE NRN PRTNS OF THE COASTAL
BEND IS PROGGED TO WEAKEN AND LIFT INTO NE TX BY 00Z SUN. FA WL SEE
A BREAK IN THE PRECIP ACTIVITY...THEN BAJA S/W TRACKS EWD AND PROMOTES
DEEPENING SWLY FLOW ALF AND ANOTHER SHOT OF PRECIP SUN INTO MON. MORE
DETAILS WILL FOLLOW IN THE EVENING AFD.

PRELIMINARY 1ST PERIOD ZONES...
.CRP...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 30 PERCENT CHANCE OF SHOWERS OR TSTMS THIS
EVENING. LOW FROM THE LOWER 60S COAST TO THE UPPER 50S INLAND.
SE WIND NEAR 15 MPH AND GUSTY...BECOMING WEST 10 TO 15 MPH.

.VCT...MOSTLY CLOUDY WITH A 40 PERCENT CHANCE OF SHOWERS AND TSTMS THIS
EVENING. LOW IN THE MID TO UPPER 50S. SOUTHEAST WIND NEAR 15 MPH AND
GUSTY...BECOMING WEST 10 TO 15 MPH.

.LRD...PARTLY TO MOSTLY CLOUDY. LOW IN THE UPPER 50S. WEST WIND 10 TO
15 MPH.

PRELIMS...

CRP  058/071/054/070  3331
NGP  062/070/058/068  3331
ALI  058/062/051/072  333-
VCT  056/067/051/070  4441
LRD  058/072/052/072  -12-

SRP --77-

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 31, 12:00 PM CSTTornado WarningCRPLive Oak60 min
Jan 31, 1:00 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPBee60 min
Jan 31, 3:30 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPJim Wells60 min
Jan 31, 4:00 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPKarnes90 min
Jan 31, 4:00 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPIrion90 min
Jan 31, 4:55 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPKleberg65 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.