Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 12, NWS Corpus Christi, TX

March 8, 1998Nueces County, Texas

NWS Corpus Christi, TX issued this tornado warning at Mar 8, 1998, 12:06 AM CST for Nueces County, Texas. It was in force for 69 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
Mar 8, 1998, 12:06 AM CST (06:06 UTC)
Expired
Mar 8, 1998, 1:15 AM CST
In force
69 min
Issued by
NWS Corpus Christi, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Nueces County, TX

The radar

The Corpus Christi radar (KCRP), 5 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 06:05 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 nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 00:00Z, 6.1 hours before the alert went out and 17 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 00:00Z on 1998-03-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 539 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 00:00Z on 1998-03-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 104 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
539 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-169 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1710 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
104 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
204 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
2.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

927 
WFUS1 KCRP 080608 RRA
TORCRP
TXC355-080715-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
1206 AM CST SUN MAR 8 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CORPUS CHRISTI HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  115 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY......
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...NUECES COUNTY
 
DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO IN WESTERN NUECES
COUNTY ALONG HIGHWAY 666 AND JUST SOUTH OF HIGHWAY 44. THIS IS
ALSO 7 MILES WEST OF ROBSTOWN.  THIS STORM IS MOVING EAST AT
50 MPH.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A SHELTER BELOW GROUND IF
AVAILABLE.  OTHERWISE...GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST
FLOOR POSSIBLE.  AVOID WINDOWS.  ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES
FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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 tornado warning went out at Mar 7, 8:10 PM CST, 3 hours 56 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 7, 8:10 PM CST, 3 hours 56 minutes before
COASTAL BEND FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
810 PM CST SAT MAR 7 1998

ONE LONE TSTM...NOW E OF EWX CONTINUES TO MOVE E/SE AT 30+ MPH.  THIS
SHD REMAIN WELL N OF THE FA.  ACTUALLY HAS BEGUN TO FALL APART AS OF
THIS WRITING.  EVENING SOUNDING DID REVEAL AN UNSTABLE ATMOSPHERE...
BUT THE MOISTURE HAS BEEN PUSHED E/NE OUT OF THE REGION.  CAPES WHERE
1400 J/KG...LI -5 CAP OF 1.7 DEG C...WBZ 8700 FT...PWAT 0.95 AND LR
OF 6.4 DEG C/KM.  EASTERN HALF OF THE FA HAS SEEN A SEA BREEZE MOVE
ACROSS WITH WINDS GENERALLY ELY.  WILL CONT TO COVER THIS IN THE
NOWS.

ONE FRONT NOW LIES ACROSS S CENTRAL TX WITH THE MUCH COLDER AIR STILL
OVER THE PANHANDLE.  NOTICED BOUNDARY HAS MADE IT THRU DRT WITH NW
WINDS 30G38 MPH  THIS AIRMASS WILL ARRIVE BY EARLY SUN AND INCREASE
NWLY WINDS TO WIND ADVSRY CRITERIA.  SCA WILL BE REQUIRED ON THE CWF
TOO.  CAA WILL OUT RULE THE SUNSHINE ON SUN AND TEMPS WILL BE HELD
INTO THE 60S.  WITH DIMINISHING WINDS EXPECTED BY LATE SUN INTO EARLY
MON TEMPS WILL BE ABLE TO FALL INTO THE 30S AND LOW 40S MOST
LOCATIONS.  WHAT A SHOCK THIS WILL BE AFTER SEVERAL WEEKS OF VERY
MILD WX.  TEMPS WILL STAY WELL BELOW NORMAL (54/75) EARLY MARCH LVLS
THRU MID WEEK WITH THE HINT OF A WARMING TREND SETTING IN BY LATE IN
THE WEEK.

PWAT AREA WIDE WILL FALL TO LESS THAN 0.30 DURING THE DAY SUN AND
REMAIN THERE THRU THE FCST PERIOD.  COULD SEE SOME SC DURING THE
AFTERNOON ON SUN ESPECIALLY OVER N SECTIONS.  THE MOSTLY SUNNY SHD
COVER THINGS BUT MID SHIFT MAY WANT TO EXAMINE THE LATEST DATA.

TO ADD TO THE INTERESTING ALTIMETER READINGS FROM THE AFTERNOON AFD:
BRO 2356Z 29.40
CRP 2356Z 29.39
LRD 0046Z 29.36
SAT 2356Z 29.42
VCT 2356Z 29.41
WOW

FOR THE MOST PART AFTERNOON PKG LOOKS ON TRACK WITH THE FOLLOWING
CHGS NEEDED...

//CRP//
.TONIGHT...CLEAR AND BECMG WINDY.  EAST WIND 5 TO 10 MPH...SHIFTING
TO THE W AND NW AND INCREASING TO 15 TO 25 MPH AND GUSTY AFTER
MIDNIGHT.

//LRD//...CLEAR AND BECMG WINDY.  S WIND NEAR 10 MPH...SHIFTING TO
THE W AND NW AND INCREASING TO 15 TO 25 MPH AND GUSTY.

//VCT//...CLEAR AND BECMG WINDY.  LGT VRBL WIND...SHIFTING TO THE W
AND NW AND INCREASING TO 15 TO 25 MPH AND GUSTY AFTER MIDNIGHT.

MSL..73..

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 7, 11:02 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPBee58 min
Mar 7, 11:02 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPDuval58 min
Mar 7, 11:06 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPLive Oak69 min
Mar 7, 11:14 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPGoliad, Victoria61 min
Mar 7, 11:35 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPJim Wells55 min
Mar 7, 11:53 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPNueces67 min
Mar 7, 11:59 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPRefugio, San Patricio61 min
Mar 8, 12:18 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPCalhoun57 min
Mar 8, 12:28 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPAransas62 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes 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.