Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1995
Tornado Warning 23, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at May 18, 1995, 2:56 AM CDT for Brazos County, Texas. It was in force for 64 min. 2 reports 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
- May 18, 1995, 2:56 AM CDT (07:56 UTC)
- Expired
- May 18, 1995, 4:00 AM CDT
- In force
- 64 min
- Issued by
- NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Brazos County, TX
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 18, 3:30 AM CDT | Tornado F0 | If Edge, TX | Emergency management officials reported a barn destroyed and a 60 foot tower downed in the Edge community. |
| May 18, 3:30 AM CDT | Tornado F0 | Of Edge, TX | Emergency management officials reported a barn destroyed and a 60- foot tower downed in the Edge community. |
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
Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 00:00Z, 7.9 hours before the alert went out and 259 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1300 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -21 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1356 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 68 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -24 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 36 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KHOU 180758 TORHOU TXC041-180900- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX 256 AM CDT THU MAY 18 1995 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 400 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS ...NORTHERN BRAZOS COUNTY AT 255 AM...A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM WAS MOVING INTO NORTHWESTERN BRAZOS COUNTY NEAR MOORING. THE STORM IS MOVING TO THE EAST AT 30 MPH...TOWARD BENCHLEY. 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 REINFOR8CED BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
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 May 18, 2:17 AM CDT, 39 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 18, 2:17 AM CDT, 39 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX 210 AM CDT THU MAY 18 1995 H20 VAPOR INDICATING R/R OF SPEED MAX CLIPPING THE NW ZONES AS IT LIFTS OUT TO THE NE. SURFACE AND RADAR DATA INDICATING CONVECTION FIRING NEAR THE MAIN JET AXIS OF 100 KNOTS...OBVIOUSLY PROVIDING AN EXCELLENT VENTILATOR FOR THE STORMS. WOULD ANTICIPATE SVR TO CONTINUE THROUGH MORNING AND EVEN INTO THE THIS AFTERNOON. FRONT PROGGED TO PUSH THROUGH MOST OF THE FA LATER THIS AFTERNOON. SURFACE MOISTURE REMAINS IN PLACE...BUT THE LOSS OF THE S WINDS AT 850 AS THEY BECOME MORE SW WILL HELP TO CAP OFF THE AREA FROM THE SW. BUT CONVERGENCE AT FRONT OVER THE E ZONES WILL PROBABLY BE ENOUGH TO KEEP THE POSSIBILITY OF CONVECTION OVER E ZONES THROUGH LATE THIS AFTN. AFTER THE FROPA AREA SKIES WILL CLEAR OUT QUICKLY...UNFORTUNATELY DISAGREE WITH SOME OF THE MODELS--DONT THINK THE FRONT WILL MAKE IT VERY FAR OFF SHORE. POTENT LOOKING S/W IN THE SOUTHERN STREAM MOVING INTO MEX AND SW US BY FRIDAY NIGHT WHICH SHOULD PULL THE FRONT BACK NORTH FASTER THAN CURRENT MODELS INDICATING. LOOKING LIKE FAIR CHANCE OF POPS ON SUNDAY BUT WILL WAIT TO SEE THE WHOLE MRF PACKAGE. WILL STAY WITHIN A DEGREE OR TWO OF MOS. SO MUCH FOR LAST NIGHTS FORECAST OF FROPA AT IAH AT 6 AM THIS MORNING ...JUST LIVE'N AND DIE'N BY THE MODELS. (SOUNDS LIKE THE NAME OF NEW COUNTRY SONG). 45
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 17, 10:03 PM CDT, 4 hours 53 minutes before
TXZ163-164-176-177-195>199-180405- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX 1003 PM CDT WED MAY 17 1995 ...TORNADO WATCH CANCELLED FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS... THE TORNADO WATCH THAT WAS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 AM FOR THE NORTHWEST PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS HAS BEEN CANCELLED. AT THIS TIME...THE THREAT FOR TORNADO FORMATION HAS DIMINISHED AND NO SOUTHEAST TEXAS COUNTIES ARE UNDER ANY WATCHES OR WARNINGS. HOWEVER...AS A COLD FRONT CONTINUES TO APPROACH THE AREA FROM THE WEST...THE THREAT FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT STILL EXISTS. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER WEATHER NEWS SOURCES FOR FURTHER UPDATES.
Special weather statement, May 18, 12:23 AM CDT, 2 hours 33 minutes before
TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>213-226-227-235>237-181025- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX 1223 AM CDT THU MAY 18 1995 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH EFFECTIVE UNTIL 5 AM FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES ...HOUSTON...LEON...TRINITY...JACKSON...WHARTON...AUSTIN... BRAZOS...COLORADO...ROBERTSON...BURLESON...MILAM...WASHINGTON...BRAZORIA ...HARRIS...MATAGORDA...FORT BEND ...MONTGOMERY...WALKER...WALLER ...GRIMES...LIBERTY...POLK...MADISON...SAN JACINTO...AND ADJOINING COASTAL WATERS. WARM MOIST AIR...A SLOW MOVING PACIFIC COLD FRONT AND A DRY LINE LOCATED IN CENTRAL TEXAS HAVE PRODUCED AN ENVIRONMENT FAVORABLE FOR THE FORMATION OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE ALREADY DEVELOPED IN THE NORTHERN SECTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS PRODUCING STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND GOLFBALL SIZE HAIL. THE MAIN THREAT OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IS STRONG GUSTY WINDS AND LARGE HAIL. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER MEDIA FOR FURTHER UPDATES OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 17, 11:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Burleson | 72 min |
| May 17, 11:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazos | 68 min |
| May 18, 2:33 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazos, Burleson | 57 min |
| May 18, 2:45 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Burleson | 30 min |
| May 18, 2:54 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Madison | 66 min |
| May 18, 3:31 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Grimes | 33 min |
| May 18, 3:59 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Houston | 61 min |
| May 18, 4:06 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Walker | 53 min |
| May 18, 4:19 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | San Jacinto, Trinity | 56 min |
| May 18, 6:43 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Montgomery | 25 min |
| May 18, 7:35 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris, Liberty | 55 min |
| May 18, 7:46 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Liberty | 59 min |
| May 18, 8:35 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Liberty | 16 min |
| May 18, 1:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazoria | 54 min |
| May 18, 1:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Matagorda | 33 min |
| May 18, 2:21 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Liberty | 39 min |
| May 18, 2:46 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazoria | 29 min |
| May 18, 2:59 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris | 45 min |
Nearby
Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1995Every tornado warning in 1995Tornadoes in 1995
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.