Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 3, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Apr 22, 1996, 5:22 PM CDT for Polk County, Texas. It was in force for 68 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 22, 1996, 5:22 PM CDT (22:22 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 22, 1996, 6:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 68 min
- Issued by
- NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Polk County, TX
The radar
The Houston radar (KHGX), 149 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:21 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 22, 5:24 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Indian Reservation, 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, 10.4 hours before the alert went out and 173 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
- 211 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -271 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 691 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 15 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 33 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 103 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 222223 TORHOU TXC373-222330- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX 522 PM CDT MON APR 22 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 630 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS ...POLK COUNTY AT 521 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM OVER LAKE LIVINGSTON 6 MILES SOUTHWEST OF LIVINGSTON. MOVEMENT OF THIS STORM WAS TO THE EAST-NORTHEAST AT 25 MILES AN HOUR. 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.
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 Apr 22, 2:36 PM CDT, 2 hours 46 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 22, 2:36 PM CDT, 2 hours 46 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 235 PM CDT MON APR 22 1996 SCATTERED RW/TRW DEVELOPING ACROSS SE TX IN DESTABLIZING AIRMASS IN ADVANCE OF COLD FRONT CURRENTLY IN CENTRAL PORTIONS OF STATE. EARLY MORNING MCS HAS PRODUCED SEVERAL OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES ACROSS THE AREA WHICH MAY ACT AS FOCUSING REGIONS FOR FURTHER DEVELOPMENT AS THE AFTERNOON PROGRESSES. SE TX STILL IN A SLIGHT RISK (PER SPC'S SWODY1 UPDATE) FOR SEVERE. GOT PEA SIZE HAIL REPORT WITH A VIL NEAR 35 IN HOUSTON COUNTY AT 1915Z. GREATEST THREAT APPEARS BEST JUST TO OUR N AND NE WHERE NEW SVR THUNDERSTORM WATCH BOX JUST ISSUED. HOWEVER... INTERSECTING BOUNDARIES COULD LEAD TO RAPID TRW DEVELOPMENT ANYWHERE OVER OUR AREA. AFTER FRONT PASSES THROUGH TONIGHT...EXPECT CLEARING SKIES FOR TUE WITH COASTAL COUNTIES LAST TO SCATTER OUT. "BECOMING MOSTLY SUNNY" FOR TUE LOOKS GOOD...AND "MOSTLY SUNNY" FOR WED LOOKS GOOD TOO. PRELIMS <FOLLOW. GOT TO GO MONITOR THE RADAR. 42/44 CLL 58/83 56....60/0/0 IAH 61/82 59....60/0/0 GLS 67/7369....60/0/0
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Apr 22, 3:23 PM CDT, 1 hour 59 minutes before
TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>213-226-227-238-230325- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX 323 PM CDT MON APR 22 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH EFFECTIVE UNTIL 10 PM FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS: AUSTIN... BRAZOS...BURLESON...COLORADO...FORT BEND...GALVESTON...GRIMES... HARRIS...HOUSTON...LIBERTY...MADISON...MONTGOMERY...POLK...SAN JACINTO...TRINITY...WALKER...WALLER...WASHINGTON...AND WHARTON COUNTIES. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED AHEAD OF A DRYLINE AND PREFRONTAL TROUGH ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO REACH SEVERE LIMITS THROUGH LATE THIS EVENING. THE MAIN THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS. REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO 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 SITUATI8ON.
Special weather statement, Apr 22, 5:15 PM CDT, 7 minutes before
TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-236>238-511-513-230415- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX 515 PM CDT MON APR 22 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH UNTIL 11 PM FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS: POLK...LIBERTY...MONTGOMERY WALLER...AUSTIN...COLORADO...HARRIS...CHAMBERS...GALVESTON...FORT BEND... WHARTON...MATAGORDA AND BRAZORIA. A TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 10 PM FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS: BRAZOS...BURLESON...GRIMES... HOUSTON...MADISON...SAN JACINTO... TRINITY...WALKER...AND WASHINGTON COUNTIES. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED AHEAD OF A DRYLINE AND PREFRONTAL TROUGH ACROSS CENTRAL AND SOUTHEAST TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON. SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO REACH SEVERE LIMITS THROUGH LATE THIS EVENING. THE MAIN THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE TORNADOES...LARGE HAIL AND STRONG GUSTY WINDS. REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO 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 22, 3:04 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Houston | 41 min |
| Apr 22, 3:18 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazos, Grimes | 57 min |
| Apr 22, 3:34 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Houston | 56 min |
| Apr 22, 3:44 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Grimes, Montgomery, Walker | 61 min |
| Apr 22, 4:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris, Waller | 55 min |
| Apr 22, 4:28 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | San Jacinto | 62 min |
| Apr 22, 4:34 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Harris | 56 min |
| Apr 22, 5:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Polk | 59 min |
| Apr 22, 5:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris, Liberty | 65 min |
| Apr 22, 6:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Chambers | 59 min |
| Apr 22, 6:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Liberty | 65 min |
| Apr 22, 6:36 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazoria, Galveston, Harris | 69 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.