Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1996
Tornado Warning 4, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at May 11, 1996, 4:10 PM CDT for Fort Bend County, Texas. It was in force for 20 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
- May 11, 1996, 4:10 PM CDT (21:10 UTC)
- Expired
- May 11, 1996, 4:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 20 min
- Issued by
- NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Fort Bend County, TX
The radar
The Houston radar (KHGX), 67 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:14 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 11, 4:40 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Richmond, 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, 9.2 hours before the alert went out and 252 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
- 1601 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -5 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 605 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 34 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 31 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 61 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 0.4
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KHOU 112111 TORHOU TXC157-112130- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX 410 PM CDT SAT MAY 11 1996 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 430 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS ...EAST FORT BEND COUNTY AT 408 PM CDT A SOUTH HARRIS COUNTY DEPUTY REPORTED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR ALMEDA ALONG BELTWAY 8 BETWEEN PEARLAND AND STAFFORD AND MOVING SOUTHWEST TOWARD THE ARCOLA AREA. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO... SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR ROOM... SUCH AS A CLOSET OR HALLWAY ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS AND PROTECT YOUR BODY FROM FLYING DEBRIS WITH CUSHIONS... BLANKETS... OR PILLOWS. &
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 May 11, 2:42 PM CDT, 1 hour 28 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 11, 2:42 PM CDT, 1 hour 28 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 240 PM CDT SAT MAY 11 1996 UPR LVL SHRT WV MOVG TWRD UPR TX COAST PRODUCING A FEW PSBLE SVR TRWS OVR LIBERTY AND CHAMBERS COUNTIES THIS AFTN. SATL LOOP SHOWS SHRT WV MOVG TO THE SE AND MDLS HAVE IT MOVG OFF COAST ARND 00Z THIS EVNG. UPR LVL RIDGE BLDG IN BEHIND SHRT WV BUT WITH LATE HEATING AND SFC FNT IN VCNTY...WOULD LIKE TO GO MOSTLY CLDY WITH 20% POPS NORTH ZONES AND UP POPS OVR CNTRL AND COASTAL ZONES FOR THIS EVENING TO 30% WITH MENTION OF PSBLE SVR THERE. BELIEVE THREAT WILL BE OVER BY MIDNGT AS MDLS SHOW GOOD SUBSIDENCE BLDG IN AND SHRT WV MOVG INTO GULF BY THEN. SHALLOW SFC FNT BETWEEN CLL AND IAH SHUD STALL IN VCNTY OF CRNT LOCATION AND THEN BACKUP AS WF ON SUN. ON SUN...EXPECT SOME MORNG LOW CLDS AND PSBLY PATCHY FOG WITH WEAK GRAD...THEN PARTLY CLDY BY NOON. MDLS HINT AT ENERGY RIDING DOWN EAST SIDE OF RIDGE SUN AFTN AND MAY WARRANT A 20% CHC FOR SUN AFTN TRWS CNTRL AND COASTAL ZONES AS FA WILL RMN UNSTABLE WITH WF MVG BACK TO NORTH. DPWTS AND FNT WILL DICTATE LOWS TNGT...THINKING WARMER THAN NGM MOS ATTM. NGM MOS HIGHS ON SUN AND MON LOOK CLOSE. BUSY ON RADAR...HAVE TO GO. 39 V PRELIMS...CLL 68/88 20/20 IAH 70/88 30/20 GLS 74/84 30/20
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 11, 3:05 PM CDT, 1 hour 5 minutes before
TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-511-513-120500- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON TX 305 PM CDT SAT MAY 11 1996 A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER CONTINUES THROUGH THIS EVENING FOR MUCH OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS. THE SLIGHT RISK AREA IS GENERALLY ALONG AND SOUTH OF A COLUMBUS TO CONROE TO LIVINGSTON LINE AND INCLUDES THE CITIES OF WHARTON... HOUSTON...LIBERTY...ANAHUAC...AND GALVESTON. AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL CONTINUE TO INTERACT WITH A STALLED SURFACE FRONT AND VERY MOIST...UNSTABLE SOUTHEAST TEXAS AIRMASS TO PRODUCE A FEW STRONG THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...SOME OF WHICH MAY BECOME SEVERE. THE UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE IS EXPECTED TO MOVE OFF THE UPPER TEXAS COAST BY LATE EVENING AND END THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS BY MIDNIGHT TONIGHT. THE GREATEST THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL BE DAMAGING WINDS AND POSSIBLY HAIL. EMERGENCY MANAGERS AND STORM SPOTTERS SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE SITUATION FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 11, 1:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Chambers | 53 min |
| May 11, 2:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Chambers, Liberty | 66 min |
| May 11, 3:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris | 60 min |
| May 11, 3:52 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Galveston | 68 min |
| May 11, 4:04 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazoria | 56 min |
| May 11, 4:35 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Fort Bend | 55 min |
| May 11, 4:39 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris | 36 min |
| May 11, 5:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazoria | 59 min |
| May 11, 5:19 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Wharton | 56 min |
| May 11, 6:09 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Matagorda | 51 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.