Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

March 4, 2004Bexar County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this tornado warning at Mar 4, 2004, 2:40 PM CST for Bexar County, Texas. It was in force for 35 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Mar 4, 2004, 2:40 PM CST (20:40 UTC)
Expired
Mar 4, 2004, 3:15 PM CST
In force
35 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Bexar County, TX

The radar

The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 57 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:43 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

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 8.7 hours before the alert went out and 220 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 12:00Z on 2004-03-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 377 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 2004-03-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 251 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
377 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-198 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
668 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
48 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
251 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
334 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KEWX 042040
TORSAT
TXC029-042115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
240 PM CST THU MAR 4 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN TEXAS...
  BEXAR

* UNTIL 315 PM CST

* AT 240 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG SIGNS THAT A TORNADO IS DEVELOPING 6 MILES
  SOUTH OF SEA WORLD...OR ABOUT 9 MILES EAST OF CASTROVILLE...MOVING
  EAST AT 35 MPH.

* THIS WARNING INCLUDES LOCATIONS IN AND AROUND...
  SEA WORLD
  LACKLAND AFB
  SAN ANTONIO
  OLMOS PARK
  ALAMO HEIGHTS
  TERRELL HILLS

DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN
THE PATH OF A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF
NO STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A WELL-BUILT BUILDING.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...GO TO A CENTRAL...SMALL ROOM ON THE
LOWEST FLOOR...SUCH AS A BATHROOM...CLOSET OR HALLWAY. STAY AWAY FROM
OUTSIDE WINDOWS AND DOORS. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR
BODY.

LAT...LON 2948 9874 2929 9873 2918 9839 2945 9817
          2959 9834

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 4, 9:50 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXVal Verde55 min
Mar 4, 11:28 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXKinney, Val Verde62 min
Mar 4, 1:50 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXMedina25 min
Mar 4, 2:21 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBexar39 min
Mar 4, 3:20 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBexar, Guadalupe55 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 2004Every tornado warning in 2004Tornadoes in 2004

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.