Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1994

Tornado Warning 23, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

October 18, 1994Jackson County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Oct 18, 1994, 9:42 AM CDT for Jackson County, Texas. It was in force for 33 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
Oct 18, 1994, 9:42 AM CDT (14:42 UTC)
Expired
Oct 18, 1994, 10:15 AM CDT
In force
33 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Jackson County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 156 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:44 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.

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Oct 18, 9:42 AM CDTTornado F0La Ward, TXTrees were downed near La Ward.

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

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 155 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 1994-10-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2059 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 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 1994-10-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 167 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
2059 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
583 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
167 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
170 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.1
Supercell composite
7.3

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 17, 2:30 PM CDT, 19 hours 12 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 17, 2:30 PM CDT, 19 hours 12 minutes before
<!doctype html>
<html lang="en">
<head>
  <meta charset="utf-8">
  <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
  <title>Service Notice</title>
  <link rel="stylesheet" href="index.css">
</head>
<body>
  <main class="wrap">
    <section class="card" role="status" aria-live="polite">
      <div class="status" id="status">Temporary Notice</div>
      <h1 id="headline">This service is currently unavailable.</h1>
      <p id="message1">
        The site you requested is temporarily down for maintenance or an unexpected outage.
      </p>
      <p id="message2">
        Please try again in a few minutes.
      </p>
      <p class="small" id="detail">
        If you are an administrator, restore upstream service and remove the redirect/fallback rule when normal operations resume.
      </p>
    </section>
  </main>
  <script src="index.js"></script>
</body>
</html>

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 18, 4:30 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXChambers, Harris, Liberty, Montgomery, Polk, San Jacinto7 hr
Oct 18, 4:30 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXTrinity, Walker7 hr
Oct 18, 4:30 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXAustin, Colorado, Wharton7 hr
Oct 18, 4:30 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXBrazoria, Fort Bend, Waller7 hr
Oct 18, 4:30 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXGrimes, Washington7 hr
Oct 18, 4:30 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXGalveston7 hr
Oct 18, 5:28 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXJackson6 hr
Oct 18, 11:03 AM CDTTornado WarningHGXMatagorda27 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.