Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 12, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

February 18, 1998Karnes County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this tornado warning at Feb 18, 1998, 6:43 PM CST for Karnes County, Texas. It was in force for 62 min. 2 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
Feb 18, 1998, 6:43 PM CST (00:43 UTC)
Expired
Feb 18, 1998, 7:45 PM CST
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Karnes County, TX

The radar

The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:45 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
Feb 18, 7:00 PM CSTHail 0.75Karnes City, TX
Feb 18, 7:30 PM CSTHail 0.75Karnes City, 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 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 140 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°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.

375 
WFUS1 KSAT 190044 RRA
TORSAT
TXC255-190145-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
643 PM CST WED FEB 18 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  745 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...KARNES COUNTY
 
AT 645 PM NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC
THUNDERSTORM NEAR FASHING IN ATASCOSA COUNTY. THIS STORM IS
MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH INTO KARNES COUNTY NEAR COY CITY AND
KENEDY.  FUNNEL CLOUDS HAVE BEEN SPOTTED WITH THIS STORM.
 
PEOPLE IN OR NEAR THE PATH OF THIS STORM SHOULD TAKE IMMEDIATE ACTION
TO PROTECT THEIR LIVES.  GO TO THE CENTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR
BUILDING...COVER YOUR HEAD.  STAY AWAY FROM DOORS AND WINDOWS.  DO
NOT STAY IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...GET INTO A STURDY BUILDING.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 18, 6:03 PM CSTTornado WarningEWXAtascosa42 min
Feb 18, 6:04 PM CSTTornado WarningEWXWilson41 min
Feb 18, 6:17 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXLlano58 min
Feb 18, 6:29 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXKarnes46 min
Feb 18, 6:49 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBastrop56 min
Feb 18, 6:54 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBurnet66 min
Feb 18, 7:03 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXWilliamson57 min
Feb 18, 7:22 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXDeWitt, Gonzales68 min
Feb 18, 7:40 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXAtascosa65 min
Feb 18, 7:58 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXFrio62 min
Feb 18, 8:14 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningEWXAtascosa3 hr
Feb 18, 8:48 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXAtascosa57 min
Feb 18, 8:57 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXKarnes63 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.