Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 26, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

May 30, 1995Chambers County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at May 30, 1995, 8:28 AM CDT for Chambers County, Texas. It was in force for 37 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
May 30, 1995, 8:28 AM CDT (13:28 UTC)
Expired
May 30, 1995, 9:05 AM CDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Chambers County, TX

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 1.5 hours before the alert went out and 149 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 12:00Z on 1995-05-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1718 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 12:00Z on 1995-05-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 34 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
1718 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-16 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
665 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
19 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
34 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
85 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
2.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHOU 301329
TORHOU
TXC071-301415-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
828 AM CDT TUE MAY 30 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  915 AM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...CHAMBERS COUNTY
 
AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS
 
 
A FUNNEL CLOUD WAS REPORTED BY THE CHAMBERS COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE AT
822 AM NEAR WALLISVILLE RD IN NORTHERN CHAMBERS COUNTY. THE STORM IS
MOVING TO THE EAST AT 20 MPH.
 
DO NOT USE YOUR VEHICLE TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. VEHICLES ARE
EASILY TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE
PATH OF A TORNADO...LEAVE THE VEHICLE ANDl GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF
NO STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SHELTER IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.

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 30, 3:31 AM CDT, 4 hours 57 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 30, 3:31 AM CDT, 4 hours 57 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
330 AM CDT TUE MAY 30 1995

SE TX ATMOSPHERE CONTINUES MOIST (BUT NOT AS MOIST AS YESTERDAY) AND
UNSTABLE AS WEAK STATIONARY FRONT REMAINS NEAR THE AREA.  LATEST 88D
AND SATELLITE PICTURES SHOW A LARGE RW/TRW COMPLEX APPROACHING FROM
THE W AND ISOLATED RW/TRW POPPING S OF IAH.  THINKING IS THAT RW/TRW
WILL INCREASE ACROSS SE TX THROUGH MID MORNING THEN DECREASE (MOVE TO
THE E) AS THE DAY PROGRESSES.  WITH SPOTTY VERY HEAVY RAINFALL TOTALS
FROM YESTERDAY AND COORDINATION WITH SAT AND LCH OFFICES...WILL HAVE
A FLASH FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT TODAY GENERALLY NORTH OF INTERSTATE 10
WHERE FFG VALUES APPEAR TO BE REACHABLE.  COASTAL COUNTIES HAVE THE
HIGHEST FFG NUMBERS (NEAR 5 INCHES) SO WILL LEAVE THEM OUT OF THE
WATCH.  WITH FRONT REMAINING NEAR SE TX THROUGH WED...WILL LEAVE RAIN
CHANCES IN THE FORECAST.  WILL NOT STRAY TOO FAR FROM MOS TEMPS.

IAH TE 083/071 085/070 086 42754

42

In the hours before

Special weather statement, May 30, 3:33 AM CDT, 4 hours 55 minutes before
TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>213-301500-

HEAVY RAIN OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
330 AM CDT TUE MAY 30 1995

THERE IS A RISK OF ADDITIONAL HEAVY RAINFALL TODAY FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST
TEXAS.

HEAVY RAIN IS EXPECTED TO REDEVELOP OVER MUCH OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS TODAY.  AS
OF 3 AM...THE LEADING EDGE OF A LARGE AREA OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WAS
LOCATED FROM NEAR A COLLEGE STATION TO COLUMBUS LINE...WHILE OTHER
THUNDERSTORMS HAD DEVELOPED FROM NEAR SEALY TO FREEPORT.  ABUNDANT LOW
LEVEL MOISTURE...A SERIES OF UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCES AND A WEAK STATIONARY
FRONT JUST NORTH OF THE AREA WILL INTERACT TO PRODUCE WIDESPREAD SHOWER AND
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY TODAY.

MID LEVELS OF THE ATMOSPHERE ARE SATURATED...SO THE POTENTIAL FOR HEAVY
RAIN EXISTS.  UPPER LEVEL WINDS ARE WEAK PRODUCING SLOW MOVING STORMS.  IN
ADDITION...WEAK WINDS ALOFT ALLOW STORMS TO REDEVELOP OVER THE SAME AREA
FOR AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF TIME WHICH WHICH LIKELY YIELD VERY HEAVY RAINFALL
TOTALS.  RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1 TO 3 INCHES ARE EXPECTED WITH TODAYS
THUNDERSTORM ACTIVITY.

THE GROUND IS ALREADY SATURATED FROM PREVIOUS RAINS.  ADDITIONAL RAINS
TODAY WILL CAUSE RIVERS AND STREAMS TO RISE...POSSIBLY FLOODING LOW LYING
AREAS.

EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS AND STORM SPOTTERS SHOULD MONITOR THIS
WEATHER SITUATION CLOSELY.  STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER NEWS
SOURCES FOR FURTHER UPDATES.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 30, 5:01 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXHarris119 min
May 30, 5:27 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHarris49 min
May 30, 5:43 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXLiberty33 min
May 30, 5:58 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXGalveston2 hr
May 30, 6:15 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXWharton60 min
May 30, 6:15 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXWharton60 min
May 30, 6:21 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXBrazoria, Fort Bend2 hr
May 30, 6:25 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXFort Bend, Harris65 min
May 30, 7:08 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazoria, Matagorda67 min
May 30, 7:09 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXHarris2 hr
May 30, 7:23 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXChambers67 min
May 30, 7:53 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXGalveston2 hr
May 30, 9:22 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXHarris2 hr
May 30, 10:04 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXGalveston86 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.