Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1995
Tornado Warning 40, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Dec 17, 1995, 3:19 AM CST for Grimes County, Texas. It was in force for 39 min.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Dec 17, 1995, 3:19 AM CST (09:19 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 17, 1995, 3:58 AM CST
- In force
- 39 min
- Issued by
- NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Grimes County, TX
The nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 271 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
- 654 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -4 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 659 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 20 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 28 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 63 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KHOU 170918 TORHOU TXC185-339-171015- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX 319 AM CST SUN DEC 17 1995 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 415 AM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS ...GRIMES COUNTY...MONTGOMERY COUNTY AT 318 AM...RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM 4 MILES NORTHWEST OF MAGNOLIA. MOVEMENT WAS TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. MONTGOMERY IS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
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 Dec 17, 2:26 AM CST, 53 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Dec 17, 2:26 AM CST, 53 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 220 AM CST SAT DEC 16 1995 CONVECTION FINALLY BREAKING OUT! A GOOD DEAL OF TRAINING ALREADY OCCURING IN THE INVERTED PRESSURE TROF AND FOCUSING NEAR THE INTERSECTION OF THE THETA-E RIDGE AND WF AROUND CLL. THETA-E RIDGE SHOULD BECOME MORE EXPLOSIVE AS LLJ STRENGTHENS AND MORE MOISTURE STREAMS IN. OLD TIME FORECASTER FROM THE OFFICE RECOUNTED THAT THESE TYPE OF CUTOFF LOWS COMING OUT OF THE W WILL FOCUS PRECIP IN CLOSER TO THE LOW AS THEY BEGIN TO WEAKEN AND ARE VERY FREQUENTLY SLOWER IN MOVEMENT THAN MODELS PREDICT. AND LASTLY...BEWARE OF THE NOCTURNAL ENVIORNMENT...PRECIP IS MUCH HEAVIER THAN IS USUALLY EXPECTED. GIVEN THE TREND OF THE LAST 4 DAYS HAVE TO AGREE WITH LOCAL WISDOM. FFA IS A MUST...HIGH POPS AND MENTION SVR. UPPER DIFFLUENCE GOING BALLISTIC BY 12Z TODAY AND CONTINUES THROUGHOUT THE PERIOD. SEE NCEP PRODUCTS FOR QPF REASONING WHICH APPEARS VALID BUT GIVEN THE TRENDS EVIDENT ISOLATED 6+" APPEARING MORE LIKELY. ON SATEL...NEXT IMPULSE SHOULD REACH THE WESTERN AREA AROUND 12Z WHICH AGREES WELL WITH ETA PROG. COORDINATION WITH SPC INDICATING SVR WATCH BEING CONSIDERED ATTM. GOT TO GO...VILS OF 54 SUPPORTING TREMENDOUS MARBLE-SIZED HAIL FALLOUTS. REFLECTIVITY CORES OF 55 DBZ AT OR ABOVE 27KFT APPEAR TO BE THE SVR THRESHOLD ATTM. 45
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Dec 16, 10:44 PM CST, 4 hours 35 minutes before
TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-511-513-171045- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX 1044 PM CST SAT DEC 16 1995 ...A DENSE FOG ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR TONIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING... PATCHY DENSE FOG DEVELOPED EARLY THIS EVENING IN THE BRAZOS RIVER VALLEY AND A LITTLE LATER IN THE COLORADO RIVER VALLEY FROM LA GRANGE SOUTHEASTWARD. PATCHY SEA FOG ALONG THE COAST HAD PUSHED INLAND TO THE SOUTHERN AND EASTERN SUBURBS OF HOUSTON...AS WELL AS GALVESTON AND TRINITY BAY. AT 1030 PM...VISIBILITIES HAD DROPPED TO NEAR 1/4 MILE AT BRYAN/COLLEGE STATION. GENERALLY...VISIBILITIES WERE IN THE 1 TO 3 MILE RANGE ACROSS MOST OF THE AREA. A NEARLY STATIONARY FRONTAL SYSTEM LOCATED FROM NEAR JASPER WESTWARD TO NEAR SAN ANTONIO WILL MOVE VERY SLOWLY NORTHWARD OVERNIGHT ALLOWING THE FOG TO BLANKET MUCH OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS TONIGHT AND EARLY SUNDAY MORNING. VISIBILITY WILL LIKELY DROP TO LESS THAN 1/2 MILE OVER MUCH OF THE REGION. THE DENSE FOG WILL LIKELY PERSIST THROUGH THE MID MORNING HOURS SUNDAY...SO MOTORISTS TRAVERSING THROUGH SOUTHEAST TEXAS THROUGHOUT THE NIGHT SHOULD BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL...SLOW DOWN... USE ONLY YOUR LOW BEAM HEADLIGHTS TO AVOID BLINDING ON COMING VEHICLE.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 17, 2:00 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Burleson | 60 min |
| Dec 17, 2:40 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Matagorda | 65 min |
| Dec 17, 3:06 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Grimes, Waller | 54 min |
| Dec 17, 3:19 AM CST | Tornado Warning | HGX | Montgomery | 56 min |
| Dec 17, 3:22 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Walker | 68 min |
| Dec 17, 4:23 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | San Jacinto | 52 min |
| Dec 17, 4:23 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Montgomery | 31 min |
| Dec 17, 5:16 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Polk | 59 min |
| Dec 17, 5:26 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | San Jacinto | 34 min |
| Dec 17, 5:33 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazoria, Matagorda | 57 min |
| Dec 17, 6:13 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Burleson | 3 hr |
| Dec 17, 6:54 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Polk, San Jacinto | 3 hr |
| Dec 17, 7:31 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Matagorda | 59 min |
| Dec 17, 7:39 AM CST | Tornado Warning | HGX | Matagorda | 51 min |
| Dec 17, 7:44 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Grimes | 3 hr |
| Dec 17, 7:59 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Montgomery | 4 hr |
| Dec 17, 8:14 AM CST | Tornado Warning | HGX | Brazoria, Matagorda | 61 min |
| Dec 17, 8:43 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Harris, Liberty | 2 hr |
| Dec 17, 8:43 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris, Liberty | 2 hr |
| Dec 17, 9:00 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Galveston | 2 hr |
| Dec 17, 9:00 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Galveston | 2 hr |
| Dec 17, 9:27 AM CST | Tornado Warning | HGX | Galveston | 63 min |
| Dec 17, 9:47 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Chambers | 118 min |
| Dec 17, 9:47 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Chambers | 118 min |
| Dec 17, 10:02 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Matagorda | 118 min |
| Dec 17, 10:32 AM CST | Tornado Warning | HGX | Brazoria, Matagorda | 58 min |
| Dec 17, 11:15 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Brazoria, Fort Bend | 4 hr |
| Dec 17, 11:15 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Matagorda | 4 hr |
| Dec 17, 11:23 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Galveston | 3 hr |
| Dec 17, 11:31 AM CST | Tornado Warning | HGX | Brazoria | 48 min |
| Dec 17, 2:27 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Galveston | 3 hr |
| Dec 17, 3:20 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Chambers | 2 hr |
| Dec 17, 3:20 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Brazoria | 2 hr |
| Dec 17, 5:01 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazoria | 59 min |
| Dec 17, 5:30 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Brazoria, Galveston | 3 hr |
| Dec 17, 5:30 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Chambers | 3 hr |
| Dec 17, 5:44 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Polk | 61 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.