Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2000

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 27, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

March 16, 2000Williamson County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Mar 16, 2000, 3:45 PM CST for Williamson County, Texas. It was in force for 60 min. 5 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
Mar 16, 2000, 3:45 PM CST (21:45 UTC)
Expired
Mar 16, 2000, 4:45 PM CST
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Williamson County, TX

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 16, 4:08 PM CSTTornado F0Leander, TX
Mar 16, 4:12 PM CSTTornado F2Leander, TX
Mar 16, 4:20 PM CSTTornado F0Georgetown, TXA small and short-lived tornado was observed by an Amateur Radio spotter.
Mar 16, 4:30 PM CSTHail 1.75Cedar Park, TX
Mar 16, 4:40 PM CSTHail 1.75Georgetown, 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
Mar 16, 2:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 12:00Z, 9.8 hours before the alert went out and 245 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 2000-03-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 20 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2000-03-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 40 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
20 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-219 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
587 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
40 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
38 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS54 KEWX 162147
SVRSAT
TXC491-162245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
345 PM CST THU MAR 16 2000

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

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN TEXAS...
  WILLIAMSON COUNTY

* UNTIL 445 PM CST

* AT 345 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 14 MILES SO[UTHWEST OF ANDICE...OR ABOUT 5 MILES
  SOUTH OF BERTRAM...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH.

* LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS ARE LIKELY WITH THIS THUNDERSTORM...
  ALONG WITH BRIEF HEAVY RAINNS.

.END/

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.

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Mar 16, 2:00 PM CST, 1 hour 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 16, 2:00 PM CST, 1 hour 45 minutes before
SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
200 PM CST THU MAR 16 2000

SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS AND HILL COUNTRY PRIMED FOR POSSIBLE SEVERE WX
OUTBREAK LATE THIS AFTERNOON INTO THIS EVENING.  A WEATHER WATCH MAY
BE REQUIRED LATER IN THE AFTERNOON.  SHOWERS ALREADY DEVELOPING
ALONG THE FRONT OVER LLANO AND GILLESPIE COUNTIES.  SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP ALONG THE FRONT THRU THIS
EVENING.  THE APPROACHING SHORT WAVE COMING OUT OF NEW MEXICO WILL
PROVIDE THE STRONG UVV NECESSARY FOR SVR TSTMS.  THE MAIN THREATS
WILL BE HAIL AND HIGH WINDS.  PLEASE REFER TO THE SPC MESOSCALE
DISCUSSION #0350 FOR MORE DETAIL.

SHORT WAVE WILL BE SLOW TO DEPART SO ELEVATED CONVECTION POSSIBLE
BEHIND THE FRONT TONIGHT INTO FRIDAY.  PCPN WILL END FROM WEST TO
EAST ON FRIDAY...BUT CLOUDS WILL BE SLOW TO BREAK.

COLD FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS ALL OF THE CWFA OVERNIGHT.  STRONG
NORTHERLY WINDS OF 15 TO 25 MPH WILL ACCOMPANY THE FRONTAL PASSAGE
SO CAUTION ON AREA LAKES TONIGHT.  TEMPS WERE ALREADY IN THE 30S AT
ABILENE...SO UPPER 30S POSSIBLE IN THE HILL COUNTRY TONIGHT...WITH
40S FOR SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS.  LITTLE REBOUND IN TEMPS FRIDAY AS CAA
AND CLOUDS KEEP READINGS IN THE 50S...60S RIO GRANDE WHERE CLOUDS
WILL BREAK.

PRELIMS...
AUS 045/055/045/066 75-1
SAT 048/058/048/068 64-1
DRT 045/061/048/072 3201

.EWX...NONE.

13/01
2

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 16, 3:06 PM CST, 39 minutes before
TXZ171>173-186>194-203>209-218>225-162200-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
306 PM CST THU MAR 16 2000

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM CST...

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR MUCH OF SOUTH
CENTRAL TEXAS AND THE HILL COUNTRY THIS AFTERNOON AND VALID UNTIL 9
PM.  A STRONG COLD FRONT MOVING THROUGH THE HILL COUNTRY WILL
ADVANCE SOUTHWARD TO NEAR A AUSTIN TO SAN ANTONIO LINE BETWEEN 6
AND 7 PM. THE COLD FRONT WILL COLLIDE WITH WARM MOIST GULF AIR
AND TRIGGER A LINE OF SCATTERED STRONG THUNDERSTORMS.  SOME OF THE
STROMS WILL BECOME SEVERE OVER THE WATCH AREA.  STRONG DAMAGING WINDS
AND LARGE HAIL ARE POSSIBLE...ALONG WITH DANGEROUS LIGHTNING AND
BRIEF HEAVY RAIN.

AT 3 PM...SCATTERED STRONG THUNDERSORMS ALONG THE COLD FRONT WERE
MOVING SLOWLY EASTWARD FROM WESTERN LLANO COUNTY INTO BURNET COUNTY.
THESE STORMS WERE LIKELY PRODUCING BRIEF HEAVY RAIN AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL RADIO OR TELEVISION
STATIONS...OR YOUR CABLE TELEVISION SERVICE PROVIDER FOR LATER
STATEMENTS CONCERNING THIS DANGEROUS SEVERE WEATHER THREAT.
Local storm report, Mar 16, 3:45 PM CST, 0 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO, TX
345 PM CST THU MAR 16 2000

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

0340 PM    BURNET                    TX    PEA TO MARBLE SIZE HAIL
03/16/00   BURNET                          WAS OBSERVED BY POLICE.

0400 PM    LEANDER                   TX    FUNNELS CLOUDS WERE
03/16/00   WILLIAMSON                      OBSERVED BY THE PUBLIC.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 16, 3:25 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBurnet65 min
Mar 16, 4:08 PM CSTTornado WarningEWXWilliamson37 min
Mar 16, 4:43 PM CSTTornado WarningEWXTravis, Williamson32 min
Mar 16, 4:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXComal43 min
Mar 16, 4:59 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBexar61 min
Mar 16, 5:08 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXHays52 min
Mar 16, 5:18 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXTravis, Williamson27 min
Mar 16, 5:28 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXComal62 min
Mar 16, 5:42 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBastrop63 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 2000Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2000

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.