Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Brownsville, TX

May 21, 2001Brooks County, Jim Hogg County, Starr County, Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this tornado warning at May 21, 2001, 6:19 PM CDT for Brooks County, Jim Hogg County, Starr County, Texas. It was in force for 56 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: May 21, 2001, 6:19 PM CDT (23:19 UTC)
Expired: May 21, 2001, 7:15 PM CDT
In force: 56 min
Issued by: NWS Brownsville, TX
Area: Whole counties

Counties Brooks County, TX, Jim Hogg County, TX, Starr County, TX

The radar

The Corpus Christi radar (KCRP), 144 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:22 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
May 21, 7:09 PM CDT	Hail 0.75 M	Rachal, TX	A NWS SKYWARN spotter reported dime size hail west of Rachal.

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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
May 21, 5:15 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 153 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1153 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -306 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 718 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 253 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 248 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KBRO 212320
TORBRO
TXC047-215-247-427-220015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
619 PM CDT MON MAY 21 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHEASTERN STARR COUNTY IN DEEP SOUTH TEXAS
  SOUTHEASTERN JIM HOGG COUNTY IN DEEP SOUTH TEXAS   
  SOUTHWESTERN BROOKS COUNTY IN DEEP SOUTH TEXAS   
  NORTHERN HIDALGO COUNTY IN DEEP SOUTH TEXAS

* UNTIL 715 PM CDT

* AT 619 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO 32 MILES NORTH OF RIO
  GRANDE CITY...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL REMAIN OVER MAINLY RURAL AREAS OF...  
  SOUTHERN JIM HOGG...NORTHERN STARR...
  SOUTHERN BROOKS AND NORTHERN HIDALGO COUNTIES.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IN IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEBEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY
OR CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY.

$$

LAT...LON 2693 9879 2676 9879 2671 9812 2696 9813

SPEECE

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
May 20, 7:12 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Zapata	63 min
May 21, 4:56 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Jim Hogg, Zapata	49 min
May 21, 5:35 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Jim Hogg	55 min
May 21, 5:40 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BRO	Jim Hogg	3 hr
May 21, 6:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Brooks	60 min
May 21, 6:19 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	BRO	Hidalgo	56 min
May 21, 6:55 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Hidalgo, Starr	65 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 2001 Every tornado warning in 2001 Tornadoes in 2001

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.