Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1999

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 113, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

May 17, 1999Caldwell County, Gonzales County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 17, 1999, 11:06 PM CDT for Caldwell County, Gonzales County, Texas. It was in force for 54 min. 2 reports came from 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, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
May 17, 1999, 11:06 PM CDT (04:06 UTC)
Expired
May 18, 1999, 12:00 AM CDT
In force
54 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Caldwell County, TX, Gonzales County, TX

The radar

The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:07 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
May 17, 11:30 PM CDTThunderstorm WindLuling, TX
May 17, 11:40 PM CDTThunderstorm WindGonzales, 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
May 17, 9:15 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 00:00Z, 4.1 hours before the alert went out and 225 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 1999-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3161 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 00:00Z on 1999-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 63 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
3161 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-57 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
707 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
63 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
149 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.8
Supercell composite
4.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

999 
WUUS1 KSAT 180407 RRA
SVRSAT
TXC055-177-180500-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
1106 PM CDT MON MAY 17 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  GONZALES COUNTY  CALDWELL COUNTY

* UNTIL MIDNIGHT CDT

* AT 1106 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 10 MILES NORTH OF LULING...OR ABOUT 5 MILES
  SOUTHEAST OF LOCKHART...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* THIS WARNING INCLUDES LOCATIONS IN AND AROUND...
  GONZALES
  LULING
  PALMETO
  WAELDER

WIND GUSTS TO 60 MPH CAN BE EXPECTED WITH THESE STORMS.

HEAVY RAINS MAY FLOOD LOW LYING AREAS SUCH AS LOW WATER CROSSINGS...
DITCHES AND UNDERPASSES. AVOID THESE AREAS AND DO NOT CROSS FLOODED
ROADS AS THEY MAY BE WASHED OUT. WATER LEVELS OF SMALL STREAMS AND
RIVERS MAY ALSO RISE. SEEK HIGHER GROUND IF THREATENED BY FLOOD
WATERS.

LAT...LON 2994 9759 2981 9773 2941 9761 2962 9720

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

In the hours before

Local storm report, May 17, 9:56 PM CDT, 1 hour 10 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
951 PM CST MON MAY 17 1999

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0930 PM    COMSTOCK                  TX   .5 INCH HAIL
05/17/99   VAL VERDE                      HWY 163 13 MI. N. OF
                                          COMSTOCK REPORTED BY
                                          COUNTY SD

0930 PM    BURNET                    TX   .5 INCH HAIL
05/17/99   BURNET                         MARBLE SIZE HAIL REPORTED
                                          BY HAMS IN BURNET COUNTY
Local storm report, May 17, 10:51 PM CDT, 15 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
951 PM CST MON MAY 17 1999

TIME(CST)  .....CITY LOCATION..... STATE  ...EVENT/REMARKS...
           ....COUNTY LOCATION....

0930 PM    COMSTOCK                  TX   .5 INCH HAIL
05/17/99   VAL VERDE                      HWY 163 13 MI. N. OF
                                          COMSTOCK REPORTED BY
                                          COUNTY SD

0930 PM    BURNET                    TX   .5 INCH HAIL
05/17/99   BURNET                         MARBLE SIZE HAIL REPORTED
                                          BY HAMS IN BURNET COUNTY

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 7:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBurnet58 min
May 17, 7:24 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXVal Verde36 min
May 17, 8:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXWilliamson59 min
May 17, 8:13 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBurnet32 min
May 17, 8:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBlanco, Gillespie61 min
May 17, 8:42 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXVal Verde63 min
May 17, 8:59 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXVal Verde31 min
May 17, 9:29 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXKinney, Val Verde31 min
May 17, 9:58 PM CDTTornado WarningEWXVal Verde17 min
May 17, 10:41 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXTravis79 min
May 17, 10:41 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXTravis79 min
May 17, 10:49 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXGillespie101 min
May 17, 11:26 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXGuadalupe64 min
May 17, 11:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXDeWitt, Gonzales, Lavaca86 min
May 17, 11:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXKarnes, Wilson86 min
May 17, 11:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBexar66 min
May 17, 11:51 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningEWXBandera54 min
May 18, 12:30 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXUvalde60 min
May 18, 12:56 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXFrio64 min
May 18, 2:16 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXMaverick, Zavala64 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 1999Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1999

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.