Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

February 5, 1998Wilson County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this tornado warning at Feb 5, 1998, 7:11 PM CST for Wilson County, Texas. It was in force for 64 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
Feb 5, 1998, 7:11 PM CST (01:11 UTC)
Expired
Feb 5, 1998, 8:15 PM CST
In force
64 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Wilson County, TX

The radar

The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 59 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:13 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 5, 7:30 PM CSTHail 0.75La Vernia, 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, 1.2 hours before the alert went out and 176 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 1998-02-06Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 307 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 1998-02-06The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -58 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
307 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-78 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
690 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-58 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
12 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
-0.1
Supercell composite
-0.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

365 
WFUS1 KSAT 060114 RRA
TORSAT
TXC493-060215-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
711 PM CST THU FEB 5 1998
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  815 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...WILSON COUNTY
 
AT 710 PM CST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM MOVING
INTO NORTHERN WILSON COUNTY. THIS STORM WAS LOCATED JUST NORTHWEST OF LA
VERNIA. MOVEMENT WAS TOWARDS THE SOUTH SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH. THIS STORM
WILL AFFECT THE TOWNS OF LA VERNIA AND SUTHERLAND SPRINGS.
 
IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW
SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD.
 
TORNADOES WHICH OCCUR AFTER DARK ARE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS.  GET TO
A PLACE OF SAFETY NOW  STAY AWAY FROM DOORS AND WINDOWS...BUT GET
OUT OF MOBILE HOMES AND CARS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 5, 6:09 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXGuadalupe66 min
Feb 5, 6:12 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXAtascosa, Wilson63 min
Feb 5, 6:20 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBexar25 min
Feb 5, 6:51 PM CSTTornado WarningEWXAtascosa69 min
Feb 5, 6:56 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBexar34 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.