Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1990

Tornado Warning 6, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

April 27, 1990Grimes County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Apr 27, 1990, 7:34 PM CDT for Grimes 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
Apr 27, 1990, 7:34 PM CDT (00:34 UTC)
Expired
Apr 27, 1990, 8:30 PM CDT
In force
56 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Grimes County, TX

The radar

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

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Apr 27, 7:34 PM CDTThunderstorm Wind 0Grimes, 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. Storm Data before 1996 records only tornadoes, thunderstorm wind and hail.

The nearest sounding before it

Longview/Gregg, TX (KGGG), launched 00:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 240 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, Longview/Gregg, TX at 00:00Z on 1990-04-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1368 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Longview/Gregg, TX at 00:00Z on 1990-04-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 21 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
1368 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1155 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
27 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
21 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
83 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHOU 280034
TORHOU
TXC185-280130-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
734 PM CDT FRI APR 27 1990
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  830 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...SOUTHERN GRIMES COUNTY
 
SHERRIFS DEPARTMENT REPORTS A TORNADO ON THE GROUND NEAR NAVASOTA IN
GRIMES COUNTY. RADAR SHOWS THIS STORM MOVING TO THE SOUTH SOUTHEAST
15 TO 20 MPH.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT.  GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.
IF NO BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM
SUCH AS A CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR.  USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...
OR CUSHIONS TO COVER YOUR BODY.  AVOID WINDOWS.

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, Apr 27, 4:37 PM CDT, 2 hours 57 minutes before
TXZ032-046-045-272345-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
437 PM CDT FRI APR 27 1990

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR NORTHEAST TEXAS AND A PART OF
SOUTHEAST TEXAS INCLUDING HOUSTON...TRINITY...POLK...AND WAKLER
COUNTIES UNTIL 1000 PM CDT THIS EVENING...

ALTHOUGH NO THUNDERSTORMS WERE INDICATED IN THESE COUNTIES AT THIS
TIME...CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEVERE WEATHER
AND TORNADOES IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.

AT 430 PM CDT RADAR INDICATED SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS NORTH AND NORTHE
OF THE WACO AREA AND MOVING TO THE SOUTHEAST AT 35 MILES AND HOUR.
THESE COULD BEGIN TO EFFECT HOUSTON COUNTY WITH IN THE NEXT TWO HOURS.
Special weather statement, Apr 27, 5:54 PM CDT, 1 hour 40 minutes before
TXZ047-049-037-032-046-045-280045-

SEVERE WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
544 PM CDT FRI APR 27 1990

A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS FROM 6 PM CDT
UNTIL MIDNIGHT. THIS WATCH INCLUDES THE HOUSTON/GALVESTON
METROPOLITAN AREAS.

NO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ARE CURRENTLY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS BUT
THUNDERSTORMS ARE RAPIDLY DEVELOPING FROM A LINE JUST EAST OF COLLEGE
TO EAST OF WACO.

THESE THUNDERSTORMS ARE MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR AND WILL
BE EFFECTING HOUSTON, WALKER, AND GRIMES COUNTIES WITHIN THE NEXT
HOUR.
Special weather statement, Apr 27, 7:06 PM CDT, 28 minutes before
TXZ047-032-037-045>047-049-281000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
700 PM CDT FRI APR 27 1990

...A TORNADO WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS FROM 6 PM CDT
UNTIL MIDNIGHT.  THIS WATCH INCLUDES THE HOUSTON/GALVESTON
METROPOLITAN AREAS....

...A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING IS IN EFFECT FOR HOUSTON COUNTY UNTIL
715 PM...AND FOR GRIMES COUNTY UNTIL 730 PM...

RADAR SHOWS A LINE OF STRONG THUNDERSTORMS MOVING INTO THE ABOVE TWO
COUNTIES FROM THE NORTHWEST...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 25 MPH.  THERE HAVE
BEEN REPORTS OF TORNADOES ON THE GROUND IN BRAZOS COUNTY DURING THE PAST
15 MINUTES...NEAR OR SLIGHTLY EAST OF BRYAN AND COLLEGE STATION.

RESIDENTS IN THE WARNED COUNTIES SHOULD BE ALERT FOR POSSIBLE SEVERE
THUNDERSTORMS APPROACHING FROM THE NORTHWEST AND BE READY TO TAKE SHELTER
IF SEVERE WEATHER IS SIGHTED.

.
RESIDENTS IN COUNTIES ADJACENT TO HOUSTON AND GRIMES COUNTIES SHOULD
BE ALERT...SINCBE ADDITIONAL WARNINGS MAY BE ISSUED OVER THE NEXT FEW HOURS AS
THE LINE OF STORMS MOVES DEEPER INTO SOUTHEAST TEXAS.

STAY TUNED TO YOUR WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL RADIO AND TV...FOR THE LATEST
UPDATES.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 27, 7:04 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXWalker56 min
Apr 27, 7:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHouston42 min
Apr 27, 7:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXTrinity59 min
Apr 27, 8:24 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHarris66 min
Apr 27, 9:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXLiberty69 min
Apr 27, 9:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHarris45 min
Apr 27, 9:48 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXFort Bend57 min
Apr 27, 9:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazoria61 min
Apr 27, 10:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXGalveston60 min
Apr 27, 10:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXGalveston2 hr
Apr 27, 11:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazoria22 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.