Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 23, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

May 18, 1995Brazos County, Texas

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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 18, 3:30 AM CDTTornado F0If Edge, TXEmergency management officials reported a barn destroyed and a 60 foot tower downed in the Edge community.
May 18, 3:30 AM CDTTornado F0Of Edge, TXEmergency 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.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 1995-05-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1300 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, Fort Worth, TX at 00:00Z on 1995-05-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -24 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
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

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 11:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBurleson72 min
May 17, 11:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazos68 min
May 18, 2:33 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazos, Burleson57 min
May 18, 2:45 AM CDTTornado WarningHGXBurleson30 min
May 18, 2:54 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXMadison66 min
May 18, 3:31 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXGrimes33 min
May 18, 3:59 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHouston61 min
May 18, 4:06 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXWalker53 min
May 18, 4:19 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXSan Jacinto, Trinity56 min
May 18, 6:43 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXMontgomery25 min
May 18, 7:35 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHarris, Liberty55 min
May 18, 7:46 AM CDTTornado WarningHGXLiberty59 min
May 18, 8:35 AM CDTTornado WarningHGXLiberty16 min
May 18, 1:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazoria54 min
May 18, 1:51 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXMatagorda33 min
May 18, 2:21 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXLiberty39 min
May 18, 2:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazoria29 min
May 18, 2:59 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHarris45 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.