Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 20, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

October 17, 1994Montgomery County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Oct 17, 1994, 12:06 AM CDT for Montgomery County, Texas. It was in force for 69 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 17, 1994, 12:06 AM CDT (05:06 UTC)
Expired
Oct 17, 1994, 1:15 AM CDT
In force
69 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Montgomery County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 101 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:05 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

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 5.1 hours before the alert went out and 222 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 1994-10-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 17 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 1994-10-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 149 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
17 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-54 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
727 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
41 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
149 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
165 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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.

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Oct 16, 8:21 PM CDT, 3 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 16, 8:21 PM CDT, 3 hours 45 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON, TX
820 PM CDT SUN OCT 16 1994

CURRENT PACKAGE LOOKS GOOD. ONLY CHANGE WILL BE TO INCLUDE LOCALLY HEAVY
RAINFALL IN NORTHERN ZONES TONIGHT.
36

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Oct 16, 10:29 PM CDT, 1 hour 37 minutes before
TXZ197-210>212-226-227-235>237-511-1601000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
1022 PM SUN OCT 16 1994

...FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS CONTINUE IN EFFECT FOR HOUSTON...TRINITY...
   MADISON...MONTGOMERY...POLK...WALKER...BRAZOS...BURLESON...GRIMES
   AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES...

STRONG THUNDERSTORMS ACCOMPANIED WITH VERY HEAVY RAIN CONTINUE OVER PARTS
OF EAST AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS.  RADAR INDICATED RAINFALL OF THREE TO FIVE
INCHES IN THE PAST THREE HOURS OVER MANY AREAS.  ONE REPORT OF NINE INCHES
IN THE VICINITY OF POST OAK MALL IN COLLEGE STATION WAS RECIEVED.  LAW
ENFORCEMENT AGENIES IN THE WARNED COUNTIES REPORT NUMEROUS ROADS AND STREETS
ARE IMPASSABLE.  DRIVERS ARE BEING URGED TO STAY OFF THE ROADS.  THE HEAVY RAIN
IS EXPECTED TO CONTINUE THROUGH THE NEXT THREE TO FOUR HOURS.
Special weather statement, Oct 16, 11:18 PM CDT, 48 minutes before
TXZ211-210-227-198-213-163-200-199-179-178-164-177-212-197-041-
051-313-170615-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
1118 PM CDT SUN OCT 16 1994

...FLASH FLOOD WARNING IN EFFECT FOR BRAZOS...BURLESON...GRIMES...AND
WASHINGTON COUNTIES UNTIL 1245 AM...

...FLASH FLOOD WARNING IN EFFECT FOR HOUSTON...TRINITY...MADISON...
   MONTGOMERY...POLK...AND WALKER COUNTIES UNTIL 100 AM...

LATEST SATELLITE PICTURES AND SURFACE OBSERVATIONS INDICATE EXTREMELY
HEAVY RAIN CONTINUING TO FALL ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS GENERALLY NORTH OF
A LINE FROM COLUMBUS TO SPRING TO WOODVILLE. THE HEAVIEST RAINS WERE
LOCATED FROM COLUMBUS TO BROOKSHIRE TO CONROE TO COLDSPRING TO
CORRIGAN. IN ADDITION...COLLEGE STATION CONTINUES TO REPORT HEAVY RAIN.
RAINFALL RATES ARE RUNNING 2 TO 3 INCHES AN HOUR.

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP NEAR COLORADO COUNTY AND
MOVE TO THE NORTH NORTHEAST AT 20 TO 25 MILES AN HOUR. AT THIS
TIME...HEAVY RAINS SHOULD CONTINUE TO CROSS LOCATIONS THAT HAVE ALREADY
RECEIVED LARGE AMOUNTS OF RAIN FROM EARLIER TODAY AND THIS EVENING. 9
INCHES OF RAIN HAS BEEN REPORTED IN COLLEGE STATION.  US 59 NEAR
CORRIGAN IN POLK COUNTY IS CLOSED DUE TO THREE FEET OF STANDING WATER.
IN WALLER COUNTY...WATER IS BEGINNING TO WASH OVER THE ROADS AND A FLASH
FLOOD WARNING MAY BE REQUIRED WITHIN THE NEXT HOUR.

CONDITIONS MAY DETERIORATE RAPIDLY THROUGH TONIGHT.  STRONG
WINDS...HAIL...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING HAIL ARE POSSIBLE WITH THESE
THUNDERSTORMS.

ALL PERSONS ACROSS THE COUNTIES WITH FLASH FLOOD WARNINGS AND WALLER
COUNTY ARE URGED TO REMAIN INDOORS THROUGH TONIGHT.  THIS IS A DANGEROUS
WEATHER SITUATION!

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER WEATHER NEWS SOURCES FOR
FURTHER UPDATES.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 16, 11:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHarris, Waller68 min
Oct 17, 12:06 AM CDTTornado WarningHGXHarris39 min
Oct 17, 1:01 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXHarris, Liberty, Montgomery, Polk, San Jacinto3 hr
Oct 17, 1:01 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXAustin, Waller, Washington3 hr
Oct 17, 1:01 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXBrazos, Burleson3 hr
Oct 17, 1:01 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXTrinity, Walker3 hr
Oct 17, 1:01 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXMadison3 hr
Oct 17, 1:45 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXAustin, Waller, Washington2 hr
Oct 17, 1:45 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXBrazos, Burleson2 hr
Oct 17, 1:45 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXLiberty, Polk2 hr
Oct 17, 1:45 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXHarris2 hr
Oct 17, 1:45 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXGrimes, Madison, Montgomery, San Jacinto, Trinity, Walker2 hr
Oct 17, 7:20 AM CDTTornado WarningHGXChambers40 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1994Every tornado warning in 1994Tornadoes in 1994

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.