Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 41, NWS Fort Worth, TX

October 17, 1998Hill County, Texas

NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this tornado warning at Oct 17, 1998, 1:15 PM CDT for Hill County, Texas. It was in force for 30 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties.

The facts

Issued
Oct 17, 1998, 1:15 PM CDT (18:15 UTC)
Expired
Oct 17, 1998, 1:45 PM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Fort Worth, TX
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Hill County, TX

The radar

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 62 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:16 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

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 12:00Z, 6.3 hours before the alert went out and 90 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 1998-10-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1219 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 1998-10-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 130 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
1219 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
713 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
30 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
130 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
226 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.1
Supercell composite
10.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

843 
WFUS1 KFTW 171818 RRA
TORFTW
TXC217-171845-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
115 PM CDT SAT OCT 17 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT WORTH HAS ISSUED A

   * TORNADO WARNING FOR
     HILL COUNTY IN TEXAS
     INCLUDING HILLSBORO

   * UNTIL 145 PM CDT

   * AT 115 PM CDT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A
     CIRCULATION CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 6 MILES SOUTH OF 
     HILLSBORO...MOVING NORTH AT 35 MILES PER HOUR.

PEOPLE IN AND ALONG THE I-35 CORRIDOR INCLUDING HILLSBORO...LOVELACE
AND MIDWAY SHOULD SEEK SHELTER NOW

LAT...LON 3195 9712 3195 9707 3211 9697 3226 9712

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.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Oct 17, 10:48 AM CDT, 2 hours 27 minutes before
TXZ146-171615-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
1048 AM CDT SAT OCT 17 1998

AT 1044 AM NAVARRO COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE REPORTS A TORNADO ON THE
WEST SIDE OF CORSICANA. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 30 TO 35 MPH.
RESIDENTS ON THE WEST AND NORTH SIDES OF CORSICANA TAKE COVER
IMMEDIATELY
Special weather statement, Oct 17, 10:48 AM CDT, 2 hours 27 minutes before
TXZ146-171615-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
1048 AM CDT SAT OCT 17 1998

AT 1044 AM NAVARRO COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE REPORTS A TORNADO ON THE
WEST SIDE OF CORSICANA. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHEAST AT 30 TO 35 MPH.
RESIDENTS ON THE WEST AND NORTH SIDES OF CORSICANA TAKE COVER
IMMEDIATELY

The office that day

Everything else NWS Fort Worth, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 17, 10:16 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDBell44 min
Oct 17, 10:32 AM CDTTornado WarningFWDNavarro28 min
Oct 17, 10:59 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDNavarro31 min
Oct 17, 11:04 AM CDTTornado WarningFWDCoryell, McLennan56 min
Oct 17, 11:12 AM CDTTornado WarningFWDHenderson, Navarro48 min
Oct 17, 11:20 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDBell3 hr
Oct 17, 11:38 AM CDTTornado WarningFWDKaufman52 min
Oct 17, 11:59 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDMcLennan3 hr
Oct 17, 12:26 PM CDTTornado WarningFWDKaufman34 min
Oct 17, 12:45 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDKaufman4 hr
Oct 17, 12:45 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDLimestone, Navarro4 hr
Oct 17, 1:25 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDVan Zandt3 hr
Oct 17, 3:08 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDDelta, Hopkins, Hunt, Rains3 hr
Oct 17, 4:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningFWDJack34 min
Oct 17, 5:17 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDBell, McLennan3 hr
Oct 17, 6:29 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningFWDMilam, Robertson3 hr

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.