Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1995

Tornado Warning 4, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

January 18, 1995Liberty County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Jan 18, 1995, 9:05 AM CST for Liberty County, Texas. It was in force for 40 min.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Jan 18, 1995, 9:05 AM CST (15:05 UTC)
Expired
Jan 18, 1995, 9:45 AM CST
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Liberty County, TX

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 3.1 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 1995-01-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 382 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 1995-01-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 247 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
382 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-105 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
832 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
44 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
247 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
241 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.3
Supercell composite
6.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHOU 181505
TORHOU
TXC291-181545-
 
BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
905 AM CST WED JAN 18 1995
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  950 AM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...LIBERTY COUNTY
 
AT 903 AM...RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM CONTAINING A POSSIBLE TORNADO
IN SOUTHERN LIBERTY COUNTY 5 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DAYTON. MOVEMENT WAS
NORTHEAST AT 35 MILES AN HOUR. DAYTON IS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM.
 
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 REINFORCED 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 Jan 18, 3:01 AM CST, 6 hours 4 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 18, 3:01 AM CST, 6 hours 4 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
3 AM CST WED JAN 18 1995

ALL MODELS ARE IN GENERALL AGREEMENT IN PUSHING  COLD FRONT THRU SOUTHEAST
TEXAS TODAY. WITH STG LOW LVL JET...AMPLE MOISTURE AND INCREASING INSTABILITY
THE CHANCE OF SVR TSTMS WILL PRECEDE THE ACTUAL CDFNT. FFG LESS THAN 2 INCHES
OVER ALL BUT CSTL ZNES SO WILL CONT FFW FOR THIS MRNG AS ADDITIONAL 1-2 INCHES
PSBL WITH ISOLATED AMTS NR 3 INCHES. AFT CDFNT PUSHES THRU WINDS WILL INCR
FROM WEST TO NORTHWEST AND TEMPS WILL BEGIN TO FALL. MAXIMUMS WILL BE THIS
MRNG FALLING INTO THE UPPER 40S AND LOWER 50S OVER MOST OF AREA BY LATE AFTN.
EXPECT CLEARING SKIES OVER MOST REGIONS TNGT XCP FOR NE WHERE SOME RAP AROUND
CLDS MIGHT PERSIST FOR A LTL LONGER. NGM TEMPS SEEM A LTL WARM FOR TNGT AND
THU SO LEANED TOWARD AVN TEMPS. POPS LOOKS GOOD.

PRELIMINARIES...

IAH TU 070/039 061/036 065 34700
...FFW ALL BUT CST THIS MRNG
...CAUTION ON AREA LAKES AFTN

34

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jan 18, 3:52 AM CST, 5 hours 13 minutes before
TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-511-513-181555-

SEVERE WEATHER AND HEAVY RAIN OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
352 AM CST WED JAN 18 1995

THERE IS A SLIGHT TO MODERATE RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER
SOUTHEAST TEXAS THIS MORNING. THERE IS ALSO A RISK OF HEAVY RAIN OVER
REGION THIS MORNING ALSO.

A STRONG UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE IN COMBINATION WITH A SLOW MOVING COLD
FRONT WILL MOVE ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS THIS MORNING. A SURFACE LOW IS
EXPECTED TO DEVELOP IN SOUTH TEXAS AND MOVE RAPIDLY NORTHEAST. THIS
SURFACE LOW WILL INCREASE LOW LEVEL WINDS FROM THE SOUTH THUS
INCREASING THE MOISTURE AND INSTABILITY OVER THE REGION. THE MAIN
THREAT AT THIS TIME APPEARS TO BE DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE
HAIL...HOWEVER A FEW TORNADOES ARE POSSIBLE EAST OF THE SURFACE LOW AS
STRONG WIND SHEAR WILL LEAD TO SUPERCELL DEVELOPMENT.

IN ADDITION TO THE POTENTIAL FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS FLOOD AND FLASH
FLOOD PRODUCING RAINFALL IS EXPECTED OVER ALL BUT THE COASTAL COUNTIES.
THE GROUND IS SATURATED FROM PREVIOUS RAINS AND RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF ONE
TO TWO INCHES WILL PRODUCE FLOODING OF LOW LYING AREAS AND LOW WATER
CROSSINGS. RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF ONE TO TWO INCHES IS EXPECTED THIS
MORNING WITH ISOLATED AMOUNTS NEAR THREE INCHES.

EMERGENCY MANAGERS ACROSS ALL OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS ARE URGED TO CHECK
THEIR PREPAREDNESS PLANS AND STAFFING LEVELS FOR THE POSSIBILITY OF
SEVERE WEATHER AND FLASH FLOODING THIS MORNING. SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY
ALSO BE NECESSARY FOR THIS DEVELOPING EVENT.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATION
FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS CONCERNING THIS SEVERE WEATHER
SITUATION.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 17, 11:20 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXTrinity115 min
Jan 18, 7:03 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXPolk, San Jacinto, Trinity3 hr
Jan 18, 7:07 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazos, Grimes53 min
Jan 18, 8:55 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXMontgomery2 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.