Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1998

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 126, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

March 15, 1998Val Verde County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 15, 1998, 3:20 PM CST for Val Verde County, Texas. It was in force for 55 min. 1 report 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
Mar 15, 1998, 3:20 PM CST (21:20 UTC)
Expired
Mar 15, 1998, 4:15 PM CST
In force
55 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Val Verde County, TX

The radar

The Laughlin AFB radar (KDFX), 109 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:22 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
Mar 15, 4:00 PM CSTHail 0.75Comstock, 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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Mar 15, 2:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Del Rio, TX (KDRT), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 66 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, Del Rio, TX at 12:00Z on 1998-03-15Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 314 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, Del Rio, TX at 12:00Z on 1998-03-15The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 292 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
314 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-119 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
523 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
292 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
396 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KSAT 152120 RRA
SVRSAT
TXC465-152215-
 
BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
320 PM CST SUN MAR 15 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  415 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...VAL VERDE COUNTY
 
AT 320 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE
THUNDERSTORM APPROACHING LAKE AMISTAD FROM THE SOUTHWEST.
 
MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.
 
RADAR INDICATED DAMAGING WINDS ARE POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.
LAKE AMISTAD... COMSTOCK AND AREAS NORTHEAST ARE IN THE PATH
OF THIS STORM.
 
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WINDS CAN REACH SPEEDS OVER 60 MPH.  THESE WINDS
BLOW DOWN TREES...POWER LINES...AND SEVERELY DAMAGE MOBILE HOMES...
SOMETIMES BUILDINGS.  VERY LARGE HAIL CAN INJURE ANYONE CAUGHT
OUTSIDE.
 
PEOPLE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD BE ALERT TO THE FPOSSIBILITY
OF LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS.  FREQUENT LIGHTNING AND LOCALLY
HEAVY RAIN CAN ALSO OCCUR WITH SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS...FLOODING SMALL
STREAMS...LOW AREAS...AND LOW WATER CROSSINGS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 15, 4:12 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXVal Verde63 min
Mar 15, 5:28 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningEWXVal Verde2 hr
Mar 15, 5:28 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXVal Verde2 hr

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.