Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1996

Tornado Warning 24, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

September 20, 1996Austin County, Fort Bend County, Wharton County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Sep 20, 1996, 10:34 PM CDT for Austin County, Fort Bend County, Wharton County, Texas. It was in force for 56 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
Sep 20, 1996, 10:34 PM CDT (03:34 UTC)
Expired
Sep 20, 1996, 11:30 PM CDT
In force
56 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Austin County, TX, Fort Bend County, TX, Wharton County, TX

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
Sep 20, 10:40 PM CDTThunderstorm WindEast Bernard, 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, 3.6 hours before the alert went out and 238 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°0°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

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 Sep 20, 8:31 PM CDT, 2 hours 3 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 20, 8:31 PM CDT, 2 hours 3 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
829 PM CDT FRI SEP 20 1996

VERY UNSTABLE ATMOS OVR SETX...AND A TORNADIC TSTM WAS OCCURRING OVR
THE WRN PTN OF THE FCST AREA.  THIS STM WAS OUT AHEAD OF THE LINE...
AND MAY BE EVOLVING INTO A SUPERCELL.  WL NEED TO UP THE CHCS FOR
PRECIP IN THE CLL AREA TO THE LIKELY CAT.  FFA STILL LOOKS GOOD ALSO.
...40...

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Sep 20, 7:29 PM CDT, 3 hours 5 minutes before
TXZ163-164-210700-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
730 PM CDT FRI SEP 20 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 2 AM
FOR PARTS OF NORTHERN SOUTHEAST TEXAS.  TRINITY... HOUSTON...
ROBERTSON... AND LEON COUNTIES ARE ALL INCLUDED IN THE WATCH AREA.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADO DEVELOPMENT IN AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA.  PERSONS IN THE WATCH
AREA ARE URGNED TO KEEP UP WITH THE LATEST WEATHER DEVELOPMENTS AND BE
PREPARED TO SEEK SAFE SHELTER SHOULD SEVERE WEATHER DEVELOP.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR LOCAL MEDIA FOR FURTHER UPDATES.
Special weather statement, Sep 20, 8:19 PM CDT, 2 hours 15 minutes before
TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-511-513-210820-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX
819 PM CDT FRI SEP 20 1996

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH IN
EFFECT UNTIL  2 AM FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS.  COUNTIES
INCLUDED IN THIS WATCH ARE:
AUSTIN...BRAZORIA...BRAZOS...BURLESON...CHAMBERS...COLORADO...
FORT BEND...GALVESTON...GRIMES...HARRIS...HOUSTON...JACKSON...
LIBERTY....MADISON...MATAGORDA...MONTGOMERY...POLK...
SAN JACINTO...TRINITY...WALKER...WALLER...WASHINGTON...WHARTON
AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS.

THUNDERSTORMS WITH A HISTORY OF PRODUCING TORNADOES AND LARGE
HAIL CONTINUE TO DEVELOP IN THE REGION.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADO
DEVELOPMENT IN AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA.  PEOPLE NEAR THIS AREA SHOULD
BE AWARE OF THE LATEST WEATHER CONDITIONS AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK SAFE
SHELTER IMMEDIATELY.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 20, 7:21 PM CDTTornado WarningHGXBurleson69 min
Sep 20, 8:00 PM CDTTornado WarningHGXWashington60 min
Sep 20, 8:45 PM CDTTornado WarningHGXAustin, Waller60 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, 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.