Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 1998
Tornado Watch 53
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Feb 21, 1998, 4:00 PM CST for 6 counties in Texas. It was in force for 5 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Feb 21, 1998, 4:00 PM CST (22:00 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 21, 1998, 9:00 PM CST
- In force
- 5 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
Counties Brooks County, TX, Cameron County, TX, Hidalgo County, TX, Jim Hogg County, TX, Starr County, TX, Willacy County, TX
The radar
The Brownsville radar (KBRO), 129 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:59 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.
Warnings issued inside it
6 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 4:20 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BRO | Starr | 55 min |
| Feb 21, 4:35 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BRO | Jim Hogg | 60 min |
| Feb 21, 4:42 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BRO | Brooks | 63 min |
| Feb 21, 5:18 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BRO | Hidalgo, Starr | 87 min |
| Feb 21, 5:51 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BRO | Brooks, Kenedy | 59 min |
| Feb 21, 7:55 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BRO | Cameron | 60 min |
The nearest sounding before it
Brownsville Intl, TX (KBRO), launched 12:00Z, 10.0 hours before the alert went out and 131 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -6 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 708 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 41 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 200 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 398 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
911 WWUS9 KMKC 212130 SEL3 MKC WW 212130 TXZ000-220300- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 53 STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 330 PM CST SAT FEB 21 1998 THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN TEXAS AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS EFFECTIVE THIS SATURDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 400 PM UNTIL 900 PM CST. TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS. THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 35 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 70 MILES NORTHWEST OF MCALLEN TEXAS TO 25 MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF BROWNSVILLE TEXAS. REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. OTHER WATCH INFORMATION... CONTINUE...WW 52... DISCUSSION...THUNDERSTORMS INCREASING AHEAD OF SURFACE FRONT AND UPPER LEVEL TROUGH IN VERY UNSTABLE AIR MASS WHERE CAPES ABOVE 3000 J/KG. VEERING WIND PROFILE AND INCREASING FLOW ALOFT WILL RESULT IN FAVORABLE SHEAR FOR TORNADIC SUPERCELLS. AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 26035. ...ROGASH 272,0990 264,0971 254,0971 262,0990
SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 21, 3:00 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Aransas, Atascosa, Bandera, Bee, Bexar, Brooks and 27 more | 6 hr |
Nearby
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.