Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 119, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at May 30, 1997, 11:20 PM CDT for Harris County, Montgomery County, Texas. It was in force for 55 min. 13 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
- May 30, 1997, 11:20 PM CDT (04:20 UTC)
- Expired
- May 31, 1997, 12:15 AM CDT
- In force
- 55 min
- Issued by
- NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Harris County, TX, Montgomery County, TX
The radar
The Houston radar (KHGX), 76 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 04:32 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 30, 11:22 PM CDT | Tornado F1 | Tomball, TX | Trees blown down on Dobbin Huffsmith Rd. |
| May 30, 11:22 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomball, TX | Trees blown down on Grant & Mill Rd. |
| May 30, 11:22 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Tomball, TX | |
| May 30, 11:27 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Tomball, TX | |
| May 30, 11:42 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Tomball, TX | 8 foot pine tree snapped and several large limbs blown down. Key map 329M |
| May 30, 11:42 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Cypress, TX | 16 foot oak tree uprooted, pine tree snapped 20 feet up near Jones Rd and HWY 249 |
| May 30, 11:42 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Louetta, TX | Numerous trees down and signal lights damaged near HWY 249 |
| May 30, 11:42 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Houston, TX | Tree blown down on house at North Chappel and San Glen. Key map 329R |
| May 30, 11:42 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Houston, TX | 90 foot tree uprooted and fell on a house at Thornhill and Benwick. Key map 329R |
| May 30, 11:56 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 50 | Houston, TX | Spotter reported 50 kt gusts in the Willowbrook area |
| May 30, 11:57 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Cypress, TX | Trees blown down at FM 1960 & HWY 249 |
| May 31, 12:03 AM CDT | Hail 0.88 | Houston, TX | Hail in the Willowbrook area |
| May 31, 12:11 AM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Willis, TX | Trees blown down |
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 00:00Z, 4.3 hours before the alert went out and 216 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
- 1565 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -12 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 976 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 13 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -40 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -8 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- -1.1
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 severe thunderstorm 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 severe thunderstorm warning went out at May 30, 8:04 PM CDT, 3 hours 16 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 30, 8:04 PM CDT, 3 hours 16 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 745 PM CDT FRI MAY 30 1997 WL NEED SOME TWEAKING OF 1ST/2D NOS/WORDING. COMPROMISE BETWEEN NGM/ETA ON CDFNT MOVEMENT BES
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 30, 5:20 PM CDT, 6 hours before
TXZ195-196-310410- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 520 PM CDT FRI MAY 30 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH EFFECTIVE UNTIL 10 PM FOR EXTREME NORTHWESTERN PARTS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS. COUNTIES INCLUDED IN THE WATCH AREA INCLUDE: BRAZOS... BURLESON...MILAM...AND ROBERTSON COUNTIES. A COOL FRONT MOVING THROUGH NORTH TEXAS WILL ENCOUNTER A MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS AS IT CONTINUES MOVING TO THE SOUTH. THIS UNSTABLE AIRMASS COMBINED WITH AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT CONDUCTIVE FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. SOME OF THE STORMS MAY REACH SEVERE LIMITS. REMEMBER A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THE AREA SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER. IF YOU OBSERVE SEVERE WEATHER PLEASE REPORT IT TO YOUR LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY FOR RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...RADIO OR TELEVISION FOR THE LATEST UPDATES CONCERNING THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.
Special weather statement, May 30, 8:30 PM CDT, 2 hours 50 minutes before
TXZ176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-511-513-311000- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 830 PM CDT FRI MAY 30 1997 A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL CONTINUE TO EXIST OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS TONIGHT. A LATE SPRING COLD FRONT WAS MOVING ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS EARLY THIS EVENING...AND WAS NEAR A TYLER...WACO... SAN ANGELO LINE. THIS FRONT IS EXPECTED TO APPROACH THE COLLEGE STATION AREA AROUND 1-2 AM...THE HOUSTON AREA AROUND 3-4 AM...AND GALVESTON AROUND 5-6 AM. THE AIRMASS OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS REMAINS VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE THIS EVENING...AND IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN SO WHEN THE COLD FRONT APPROACHES. THE WIND PROFILE IS SUCH THAT WIDESPREAD CONVECTION OVER OUR REGION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. HOWEVER...ENOUGH INSTABILITIES EXIST THAT SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP TONITE IN OUR REGION...AHEAD OF AND NEAR THE COLD FRONT...MAY BECOME SEVERE. THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL COME IN THE FORM OF LARGE HAIL... DAMAGING WINDS AND...POSSIBLY ISOLATED TORNADOES. RAINFALL AMOUNTS WITH THESE STORMS WILL AVERAGE 1/2 TO 1 INCH WITH ISOLATED TOTALS OF 2 TO 3 INCHES POSSIBLE BY SATURDAY MORNING. EMERGENCY MANAGERS AND SKYWARN SPOTTERS SHOULD PREPARE FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION LATER TONIGHT. RESIDENTS ACROSS THE AREA ARE ENCOURAGED TO MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER WEATHER NEWS SOURCES FOR FURTHER UPDATES AND POSSIBLE WATCHES AND WARNINGS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 30, 10:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Houston, Madison | 62 min |
| May 30, 10:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazos | 61 min |
| May 30, 10:59 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Polk, Trinity | 61 min |
| May 30, 11:02 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Madison | 58 min |
| May 30, 11:12 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Grimes, Walker | 63 min |
| May 30, 11:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Liberty, San Jacinto | 60 min |
| May 30, 11:38 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Harris | 67 min |
| May 30, 11:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Austin | 58 min |
| May 30, 11:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Montgomery | 55 min |
| May 31, 12:07 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Washington | 68 min |
| May 31, 12:23 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Harris, Montgomery | 3 hr |
| May 31, 12:27 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Harris, Liberty, Montgomery | 63 min |
| May 31, 12:30 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Austin | 60 min |
| May 31, 12:54 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Chambers | 66 min |
| May 31, 1:02 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Colorado | 58 min |
| May 31, 1:28 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazoria, Fort Bend, Harris | 62 min |
| May 31, 1:28 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Galveston | 62 min |
| May 31, 3:59 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Jackson | 61 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 1997Every severe thunderstorm warning in 1997
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.