Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1996
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 21, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 12, 1996, 5:55 PM CDT for San Jacinto County, Texas. It was in force for 50 min. 1 report 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
- Apr 12, 1996, 5:55 PM CDT (22:55 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 12, 1996, 6:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 50 min
- Issued by
- NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County San Jacinto County, TX
The radar
The Houston radar (KHGX), 124 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:56 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 12, 6:28 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Shepherd, TX |
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.
The nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 10.9 hours before the alert went out and 196 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
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- No buoyant parcel
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 929 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 26 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 193 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 228 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 122256 SVRHOU TXC407-122345- BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX 555 PM CDT FRI APR 12 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 645 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS ...SAN JACINTO COUNTY AT 550 PM...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR THE SAN JACINTO/MONTGOMERY COUNTY LINE 8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF COLD SPRING MOVING NORTH NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. A TORNADO WATCH IS ALSO IN EFFECT FOR THE WARNED AREA. REMEMBER SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS CAN AND OCCASIONALLY DO PRODUCE TORNADOES WITH LITTLE OR NO ADVANCE WARNING.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 severe thunderstorm warning went out at Apr 12, 2:34 PM CDT, 3 hours 21 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 12, 2:34 PM CDT, 3 hours 21 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 233 PM CDT FRI APR 12 1996 BIGGEST THREAT OF SVR TSTMS APPEARS TO BE ASSOCIATED WITH THE MAIN VORT MOVG THRU THE NRN PTN OF THE STATE EARLY THIS AFT (SEE UPDATED SWODY1 AND 94O). WKR VORT WL CRUSE THRU SETX LATER THIS AFT AND THIS EVE...BRINGING WITH IT A SLGT RISK FOR SVR. DRY LINE SHUD CUTOFF THE PRECIP BY 23Z AT CLL. DONT EXPECT THE DRY LINE TO REACH THE CST AT THE SFC...BUT THE ASSOCIATED SFC TROF SHUD MOV THRU IAH BY 01Z THEN GLS BY 02Z OR SO. THE ETA LOOKS OK IN ITS HANDLING OF THE SYSTEM SO FAR. NOT MUCH IN THE WAY OF TSTM DEVELOPMENT ALONG OR ADEAD OF THE DRY LINE/SFC TROF AT THE MOMENT (AT LEAST FOR OUR INTEREST HERE). YET RADAR HAS SHOWN SOME SHOWERS BEGINNING TO DEVELOP...MAINLY ALONG THE CST. 94Q QPF FCST LOOKS REASONABLE AS WELL WITH THE DECENT CHCS FOR PRECIP. TEMPS HAVE BEEN BELOW THE CURVE FROM WHAT WAS EARLIER THOUGHT...THO WITH CLRG SET FOR LATER TONIGHT THE FWC LOOKS OK. ...40... PRELIMS... CLL 57/87 20/00 IAH 63/87 30/00 GLS 66/79 40/00
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Apr 12, 4:09 PM CDT, 1 hour 46 minutes before
TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-211>213-130310- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX 409 PM CDT FRI APR 12 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH EFFECTIVE UNTIL 10 PM FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS: AUSTIN...BRAZOS...BURLESON...GRIMES...HARIS...HOUSTON...LIBERTY... MADISON...MONTGOMERY...POLK...SAN JACINTO...TRINITY...WALKER... WALLER...AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES. MILAM...ROBERTSON AND LEON COUNTIES ARE ALSO INCLUDED IN THIS WATCH. LATE THIS AFTERNOON SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOPED ALONG AN EASTWARD MOVING DRYLINE ACROSS CENTRAL TEXAS. SOME OF THESE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO REACH SEVERE LIMITS THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. THE GREATEST THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER INCLUDE TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS. REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...RADIO OR TELEVISION FOR THE LATEST UPDATES CONCERNING THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 12, 4:39 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Houston | 66 min |
| Apr 12, 5:12 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Trinity | 63 min |
| Apr 12, 5:36 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Montgomery | 69 min |
| Apr 12, 6:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Polk | 36 min |
| Apr 12, 6:35 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Liberty | 55 min |
| Apr 12, 6:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Polk, San Jacinto | 61 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 1996Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1996
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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.