Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

October 17, 1994Harris County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Oct 17, 1994, 12:06 AM CDT for Harris County, Texas. It was in force for 39 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Oct 17, 1994, 12:06 AM CDT (05:06 UTC)
Expired
Oct 17, 1994, 12:45 AM CDT
In force
39 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Harris County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 52 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 213 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°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

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

000 
TTAA00 KHOU 170506
TORHOU
TXC201-339-170615-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
1206 AM CDT MON OCT 17 1994
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  115 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...NORTHERN HARRIS COUNTY...MONTGOMERY COUNTY
 
AT 1201 AM...RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO ON THE HARRIS COUNTY LINE 6 MILES
WEST OF TOMBALL MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH. THIS STORM WILL BE
MOVING INTO THE TOMBALL AREA IN BY 1215 AM AND THE WOODLANDS AREA BY
1230 AM.
 
THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU
ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO ... GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM
ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND
MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT GET INTO
A DITCH OR CULVERT.

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 WarningHGXMontgomery69 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.