Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 36, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

July 30, 1995Chambers County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Jul 30, 1995, 9:34 PM CDT for Chambers County, Texas. It was in force for 71 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jul 30, 1995, 9:34 PM CDT (02:34 UTC)
Expired
Jul 30, 1995, 10:45 PM CDT
In force
71 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Chambers County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 02:37 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, 2.6 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 00:00Z on 1995-07-31Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1447 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 00:00Z on 1995-07-31The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 84 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
1447 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
540 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
84 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
103 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHOU 310234
TORHOU
TXC071-310345-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
934 PM CDT SUN JUL 30 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1045 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...CHAMBERS COUNTY
 
AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS
 
 
AT 930 PM...A POSSIBLE TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM CONTINUES OVER EASTERN
CHAMBERS COUNTY ABOUT 7 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF ANAHUAC NEAR THE
INTERSECTION OF HIGHWAY 562 AND FM 1985. MOVEMENT WAS NORTHWEST AT 5 TO
10 MILES AN HOUR.
 
CONTINUOUS REDEVELOPMENT OF TORNADIC THUNDERSTORMS EXISTS DURING THE
NEXT SEVERAL HOURS AS A BAND OF THUNDERSTORMS CONTINUES TO CONVERGE OVER
CHAMBERS COUNTY.
 
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 AND 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 Jul 30, 9:01 PM CDT, 33 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 30, 9:01 PM CDT, 33 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
900 PM CDT SUN JUL 30 1995

TROPICAL STORM DEAN CONTS TO BE WX FOCUS.  CENTER (AS OF 0145Z) WAS
ABOUT 4 MILES SOUTH OF SAN LUIS PASS.  RAIN BANDS ASSOCIATED WITH SYSTEM
LUK LIKE THEY WILL ENTRAIN OVER CHAMBERS AND SOUTHERN LIBERTY COUNTY.
88-D ESTIMATES RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 4 TO 5 INCHES OVER E CHAMBERS COUNTY.
2 CONFIRMED TORNADOES WITH STRONGER STORMS IN THE FIRST RAIN BAND BTWN
7 AND 9 PM.  EACH STORM DEVELOPED NR THE CST AND HAD SIMILAR STRUCTURE.
AM CONCERNED ABOUT THE POSSIBLE DEVELOPMENT OF CORE RAINS AND THE SLOWER
MOVEMENT OF THE SYSTEM DURING THE PAST FEW HOURS.  THE AREA WILL BE
MONITORED FOR FLOODING...AS THE POTENTIAL REMAINS VERY HIGH FOR FLOODING
TO OCCUR.  PREVIOUS FCST IS ON TRACK AND PLAN NO SIGNIFICANT CHANGES.  43

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jul 30, 6:21 PM CDT, 3 hours 13 minutes before
TXZ211-237-227-226-213-163-200-511-236-199-179-178-212-197-214-238-
310215-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
623 PM CDT SUN JUL 30 1995

...A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR A LARGE PART OF SOUTHEAST
TEXAS...

THE SEVERE STORMS FORECAST CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR
SOUTHEAST TEXAS UNTIL MIDNIGHT.  THIS INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF
SOUTHEAST TEXAS...CHAMBERS...LIBERTY...POLK...SAN JACINTO...MONTGOMERY
...HARRIS...GALVESTON...BRAZORIA...MATAGORDA...FORT BEND...WALLER...
WHARTON...AUSTIN...AND WASHINGTON.

THE MOIST UNSTABLE AIR ASSOCIATED WITH TROPICAL STORM DEAN IS MOVING
ASHORE ALONG THE UPPER TEXAS COAST...MAKING CONDITIONS FAVORABLE FOR
THE FORMATION OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOS.
Special weather statement, Jul 30, 6:23 PM CDT, 3 hours 11 minutes before
TXZ211-237-227-226-213-163-200-511-236-199-179-178-212-197-214-238-
310215-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
623 PM CDT SUN JUL 30 1995

...A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR A LARGE PART OF SOUTHEAST
TEXAS...

THE SEVERE STORMS FORECAST CENTER HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR
SOUTHEAST TEXAS UNTIL MIDNIGHT.  THIS INCLUDES THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES OF
SOUTHEAST TEXAS...CHAMBERS...LIBERTY...POLK...SAN JACINTO...MONTGOMERY
...HARRIS...GALVESTON...BRAZORIA...MATAGORDA...FORT BEND...WALLER...
WHARTON...AUSTIN...AND WASHINGTON.

THE MOIST UNSTABLE AIR ASSOCIATED WITH TROPICAL STORM DEAN IS MOVING
ASHORE ALONG THE UPPER TEXAS COAST...MAKING CONDITIONS FAVORABLE FOR
THE FORMATION OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jul 30, 7:34 PM CDTTornado WarningHGXChambers56 min
Jul 30, 8:34 PM CDTTornado WarningHGXChambers56 min
Jul 30, 10:46 PM CDTTornado WarningHGXChambers, Liberty59 min
Jul 31, 12:36 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXChambers3 hr
Jul 31, 3:19 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXChambers, Liberty4 hr
Jul 31, 4:31 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXChambers, Liberty3 hr

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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.