Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

March 29, 1990Austin County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Mar 29, 1990, 3:00 PM CST for Austin County, Texas. It was in force for 30 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Mar 29, 1990, 3:00 PM CST (21:00 UTC)
Expired
Mar 29, 1990, 3:30 PM CST
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Austin County, TX

The radar

The WSR-88D network and its archive begin in 1991, so there is no radar volume for this alert.

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 261 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 1990-03-29Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1269 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 12:00Z on 1990-03-29The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 139 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
1269 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-6 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
568 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
139 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
97 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
3.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHOU 292106
TORHOU
TXC015-292130-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
300 PM CST THU MAR 29 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  330 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS
 
   ...AUSTIN COUNTY
 
SHERIFF DEPARTMENT OF AUSTIN REPORTED A TORNADO TOUCHED DOWN ONE MILE
WEST OF SEALY DAMAGING A HOME AND DESTROYING A SHED.  THE STORM WAS
MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MILES AN HOUR.

What forecasters said that day

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

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Mar 29, 10:53 AM CST, 4 hours 7 minutes before
TXZ047-049-037-291900-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
1051 AM CST THU MAR 29 1990

...TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 300PM THIS AFTERNOON FOR SOUTH
CENTRAL AND PART OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS...

A TORNADDO WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 300PM THIS AFTERNOON FOR SOUTH
CENTRAL AND PART OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS INCLUDING...WASHINGTON...AUSTIN...
COLORADO...WHARTON...MATAGORDA COUNTIES AND THE COASTAL WATERS OFF
MATAGORDA COUNTY.

THUNDERSTORMS IN THE AUSTIN...SAN ANTONIO AREA TO WEST OF CORPUS
CHRISTI WERE MOVING NORTHEAST ABOUT 25 MPH.  THESE STORMS WILL
CONTINUE TO DEVELOP AS THAY MOVE NORTHEAST AND COULD PRODUCE ISOLATED
TORNADOES.

PERSONS IN THE WATCH AREA SHOULD BE PREPAIRED TO SEEK SHELTER SHOULD
THREATING WEATHER BE SIGHTED OR SHOULD A WARNING BE ISSUED.  STAY
TUNED FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND/OR WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, Mar 29, 1:59 PM CST, 1 hour 1 minute before
TXZ047-049-037-292100-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
157 PM CST THU MAR 29 1990

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND SPECIAL MARINE WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR
MATAGORDA COUNTY AND THE COASTAL WATERS UNTIL 230 PM THIS AFTERNOON...

...A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 300 PM THIS AFTERNOON FOR
AUSTIN...WASHINGTON...COLORADO...WHARTON... AND MATAGORDA COUNTIES OF
TEXAS AND THE COASTAL WATERS OFF MATAGORDA COUNTY...

AT 145 PM WEATHER SERVICE RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN
MATAGORDA BAY MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST A 25 MILES AN HOUR.  THIS STORM
WILL EFFECT PALACIOS AND COLLEGEPORT OVER THE NEXT HOUR.  THIS IS PART
OF A BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS THAT EXTENDED FROM WEST OF EAGLE LAKE ACROSWESTERN WARTON AND MATAGORDA COUNTIES INTO THE GULF SOUTH OF PALACIOS.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN...STRONG GUSTY WIND...AND
POSSIBLE HAIL AS THAY MOVE THROUGH THE AREA.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHE6R RADIO FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 28, 10:42 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXPolk4 hr
Mar 29, 2:40 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXMatagorda65 min
Mar 29, 3:31 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazoria29 min
Mar 29, 3:37 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHarris68 min
Mar 29, 3:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXChambers, Galveston105 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1990Every tornado warning in 1990Tornadoes in 1990

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.