Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

August 12, 1996Jackson County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Aug 12, 1996, 6:53 PM CDT for Jackson County, Texas. It was in force for 67 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
Aug 12, 1996, 6:53 PM CDT (23:53 UTC)
Expired
Aug 12, 1996, 8:00 PM CDT
In force
67 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Jackson County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 156 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:55 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 12, 7:20 PM CDTTornado F0Speaks, 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

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 11.9 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 1996-08-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2009 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 1996-08-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 14 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
2009 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-58 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
925 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
23 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
14 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
44 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.1
Supercell composite
0.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHOU 122354
TORHOU
TXC239-130100-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
653 PM CDT MON AUG 12 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  800 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...NORTHERN JACKSON COUNTY
 
AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS
 
 
AT 650 PM...RADAR INIDCATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM IN NORTHERN JACKSON
COUNTY 6 MILES SOUTHEAST OF SPEAKS. MOVEMENT WAS SOUTHWEST AT 5 MPH.
 
THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL LIKELY PRODUCE DAMAGING WIND IN
EXCESS OF 55 MPH...DESTRUCTIVE HAIL...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN.
MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR
BUSINESS.  STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 11, 7:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXWharton28 min
Aug 11, 7:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXChambers63 min
Aug 11, 7:39 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXFort Bend66 min
Aug 12, 2:40 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHarris65 min
Aug 12, 3:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHarris45 min
Aug 12, 4:25 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXAustin, Fort Bend65 min
Aug 12, 4:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHarris58 min
Aug 12, 5:08 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXWharton67 min
Aug 12, 6:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXWharton57 min
Aug 12, 6:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXColorado30 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1996Every tornado warning in 1996Tornadoes 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.