Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Corpus Christi, TX

February 18, 1998Refugio County, Texas

NWS Corpus Christi, TX issued this tornado warning at Feb 18, 1998, 8:38 PM CST for Refugio County, Texas. It was in force for 67 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 18, 1998, 8:38 PM CST (02:38 UTC)
Expired
Feb 18, 1998, 9:45 PM CST
In force
67 min
Issued by
NWS Corpus Christi, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Refugio County, TX

The radar

The Corpus Christi radar (KCRP), 69 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:39 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, 2.6 hours before the alert went out and 68 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 1998-02-19Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 274 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 00:00Z on 1998-02-19The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 175 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
274 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
794 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
82 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
175 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
127 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
3.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KCRP 190238 RRA
TORCRP
TXC391-190345-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
838 PM CST WED FEB 18 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CORPUS CHRISTI HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING COUNTY......
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...EASTERN REFUGIO COUNTY
 
AT 835 PM CST DOPPLER RADAR SHOWED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM 15 MILES
NORTH OF REFUGIO. THIS STORM WAS MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH AND
WILL CROSS HIGHWAY 77 ABOUT 15 MILES NORTHEAST OF THE TOWN OF
REFUGIO BY 9PM.  LARGE HAIL AND STRONG DAMAGING WINDS ARE ALSO
POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.
 
COMMUNITIES SOUTHWEST OF MCFADDIN...TIVOLI AND AUSTWELL ARE IN THE PATH
OF THIS STORM.
 
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 Feb 18, 8:10 PM CST, 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 18, 8:10 PM CST, 28 minutes before
COASTAL BEND FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
810 PM CST WED FEB 18 1998

NO TIME TO TALK.  WILL UPDATE VCT AREA WITH 40% POPS SOME SVR.
WILL UPDATE CRP ZONES...WITH 30% POPS...SOME SVR FOR STORMS FIRING TO
THE NW.  WILL UPDATE LASALLE...MCMULLEN AND DUVAL WITH 30% CHC OF
STORMS...SOME SVR BASED ON LATEST TRENDS AND BACKBUILDING INTO FRIO
COUNTY.  WEBB COUNTY LOOKS TO GET MISSED.  COULD BE A LONG EVENING.

JM...075

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 18, 6:22 PM CSTTornado WarningCRPLive Oak68 min
Feb 18, 7:27 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPGoliad63 min
Feb 18, 8:00 PM CSTTornado WarningCRPGoliad45 min
Feb 18, 8:29 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPVictoria76 min
Feb 18, 9:03 PM CSTTornado WarningCRPCalhoun57 min
Feb 18, 9:24 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPLive Oak66 min
Feb 18, 9:31 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPLa Salle44 min
Feb 18, 10:02 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPBee, Goliad58 min
Feb 18, 10:40 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPRefugio, Victoria50 min
Feb 18, 11:18 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningCRPAransas, Calhoun57 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.