Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

September 20, 1996Austin County, Waller County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Sep 20, 1996, 8:45 PM CDT for Austin County, Waller County, Texas. It was in force for 60 min. 2 reports 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
Sep 20, 1996, 8:45 PM CDT (01:45 UTC)
Expired
Sep 20, 1996, 9:45 PM CDT
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Austin County, TX, Waller County, TX

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Sep 20, 9:42 PM CDTHail 1Bellville, TX
Sep 20, 9:45 PM CDTThunderstorm WindBellville, 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 00:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 273 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 00:00Z on 1996-09-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 234 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 00:00Z on 1996-09-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -46 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
234 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-264 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1539 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-46 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-7 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 210147
TORHOU
TXC473-210245-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
845 PM CDT FRI SEP 20 1996
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...WALLER COUNTY
 
AT 845 PM...A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM WITH A HISTORY OF PRODUCING
TORNADOES WAS 7 MILES NORTH-NORTH WEST OF BRENHAM MOVING TO THE
SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH. THIS STORM WILL APPROACH THE KENNEY AREA BY
915 PM AND BELLVILLE BY 930 PM.
 
PERSONS IN KENNEY SHOULD SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY!!!
 
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.
1 follow-up statement
000 
TTAA00 KHOU 210150 COR
TORHOU
TXC015-210245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING...CORRECTED FOR AUSTIN COUNTY
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
845 PM CDT FRI SEP 20 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  945 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS

   ...AUSTIN COUNTY

AT 845 PM...A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM WITH A HISTORY OF PRODUCING
TORNADOES WAS 7 MILES NORTH-NORTH WEST OF BRENHAM MOVING TO THE
SOUTHEAST AT 30 MPH. THIS STORM WILL APPROACH THE KENNEY AREA BY
915 PM AND BELLVILLE BY 930 PM.

PERSONS IN KENNEY SHOULD SEEK SHELTER IMMEDIATELY!!!

THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION.  ACT QUICKLY.  IF YOU ARE
IN T,HE 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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 20, 7:21 PM CDTTornado WarningHGXBurleson69 min
Sep 20, 8:00 PM CDTTornado WarningHGXWashington60 min
Sep 20, 8:57 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXWaller63 min
Sep 20, 9:04 PM CDTTornado WarningHGXWashington56 min
Sep 20, 9:07 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXAustin, Burleson, Washington3 hr
Sep 20, 9:43 PM CDTTornado WarningHGXAustin62 min
Sep 20, 10:01 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXColorado59 min
Sep 20, 10:34 PM CDTTornado WarningHGXAustin, Fort Bend, Wharton56 min
Sep 20, 11:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXColorado69 min
Sep 21, 12:02 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXAustin118 min
Sep 21, 12:26 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXWharton64 min
Sep 21, 12:39 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXJackson66 min
Sep 21, 12:55 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXMatagorda65 min
Sep 21, 1:45 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXMatagorda3 hr
Sep 21, 2:37 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXMatagorda68 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.