Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 22, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 20, 1997, 4:47 PM CST for Fort Bend County, Harris County, Texas. It was in force for 58 min. 3 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
- Feb 20, 1997, 4:47 PM CST (22:47 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 20, 1997, 5:45 PM CST
- In force
- 58 min
- Issued by
- NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Fort Bend County, TX, Harris County, TX
The radar
The Houston radar (KHGX), 54 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:49 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 20, 5:00 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind | Simonton, TX | |
| Feb 20, 5:00 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind | Houston, TX | |
| Feb 20, 5:15 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind | Houston, 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 watch it was issued in
The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 20, 11:00 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
| Feb 20, 3:30 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 234 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
- 185 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -6 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 491 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 39 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 141 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 236 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 0.9
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 Feb 20, 3:21 PM CST, 1 hour 26 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Feb 20, 3:21 PM CST, 1 hour 26 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 321 PM CST THU FEB 20 1997 500 MB LOW PLACEMENT INITIALIZED WELL WITH THE 160 KM ETA. THE MDL PLACES THE LOW OVR THE HILL COUNTRY BY 00Z...AND SATL LOOPS HAVE CONFIRMED THIS MOVEMENT. AS THE LOW BEGINS TO KICK OUT TWD THE RED RIVER VALLEY THIS EVE...CAN XPC TSTMS TO MOVE E OF THE FCST AREA. THE STMS SHUD BE E OF OR ALONG AN IAH TO GLS LINE BY 02Z THEN E OF THE FCST AREA WELL BEFORE MIDNIGHT. NEED TO CONT THE FLASH FLOOD WATCH OVR SETX FOR EARLY THIS EVE...CAN DROP COUNTIES AS NEEDED. WNDS IN ADV CAT ON THE BACKSIDE OF THE LOW SHUD AFFECT THE FCST AREA FRI. CDFNT MOVS THRU SETX FM THE N FRI AND MINS FRI NGT MAY GET INTO THE 30S. SEE PRELIMS FOR TEMP AND POP INFO. 40 PRELIMS... CLL E/B B/B 53/66 39/57 4--- (CHC OF RWS OR TSTMS THIS EVE EARLY) IAH T/E B/B 59/70 40/58 61-- (TSTMS ENDING THIS EVE) GLS T/B E/B 60/68 44/56 61-- (TSTMS ENDING THIS EVE)
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Feb 20, 10:52 AM CST, 5 hours 55 minutes before
TXZ176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-511-513-202335- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 1052 AM CST THU FEB 20 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED TWO TORNADO WATCHES EFFECTIVE UNTIL 5 PM FOR MOST OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS. COUNTIES INCLUDED IN THE WATCH AREAS INCLUDE: AUSTIN...BRAZORIA...BRAZOS...BURLESON...CHAMBERS...COLORADO...FORT BEND...GALVESTON...GRIMES...HARRIS...JACKSON...LIBERTY...MADISON... MATAGORDA...MONTGOMERY...POLK...SAN JACINTO...WALKER...WALLER... WASHINGTON...AND WHARTON COUNTIES INCLUDING THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS. THE WATCH ALSO INCLUDES MILAM...LEON... AND ROBERTSON COUNTIES IN CENTRAL TEXAS. REMEMBER A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE WEATHER AND TORNADOES TO FORM IN AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA. PEOPLE IN THE WATCH AREA ARE URGED TO MONITOR THE LATEST WEATHER CONDITIONS AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER SHOULD SEVERE WEATHER THREATEN THE AREA. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...RADIO OR TELEVISION FOR THE LATEST UPDATES CONCERNING THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.
Special weather statement, Feb 20, 10:57 AM CST, 5 hours 50 minutes before
TXZ176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-511-513-202335- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 1052 AM CST THU FEB 20 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED TWO TORNADO WATCHES EFFECTIVE UNTIL 5 PM FOR MOST OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS. COUNTIES INCLUDED IN THE WATCH AREAS INCLUDE: AUSTIN...BRAZORIA...BRAZOS...BURLESON...CHAMBERS...COLORADO...FORT BEND...GALVESTON...GRIMES...HARRIS...JACKSON...LIBERTY...MADISON... MATAGORDA...MONTGOMERY...POLK...SAN JACINTO...WALKER...WALLER... WASHINGTON...AND WHARTON COUNTIES INCLUDING THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS. THE WATCH ALSO INCLUDES MILAM...LEON... AND ROBERTSON COUNTIES IN CENTRAL TEXAS. REMEMBER A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE WEATHER AND TORNADOES TO FORM IN AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA. PEOPLE IN THE WATCH AREA ARE URGED TO MONITOR THE LATEST WEATHER CONDITIONS AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER SHOULD SEVERE WEATHER THREATEN THE AREAf. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...RADIO OR TELEVISION FOR THE LATEST UPDATES CONCERNING THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.
Special weather statement, Feb 20, 2:58 PM CST, 1 hour 49 minutes before
TXZ176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-511-513-163-164-210300- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 258 PM CST THU FEB 20 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED ANOTHER TORNADO WATCH FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS NOW IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 PM. THIS WATCH REPLACES THE PREVIOUS TWO WATCHES PREVIOUSLY IN EFFECT UNTIL 5 PM. COUNTIES INCLUDED IN THE WATCH AREA INCLUDE: AUSTIN...BRAZORIA...BRAZOS...BURLESON...CHAMBERS...COLORADO...FORT BEND...GALVESTON...GRIMES...HARRIS...HOUSTON...JACKSON...LIBERTY... MADISON...MATAGORDA...MONTGOMERY...POLK...SAN JACINTO...TRINITY... WALKER...WALLER...WASHINGTON...AND WHARTON COUNTIES INCLUDING THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS. THE WATCH ALSO INCLUDES LEON AND ROBERTSON COUNTIES IN CENTRAL TEXAS. REMEMBER A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE WEATHER AND TORNADOES TO FORM IN AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA. PEOPLE IN THE WATCH AREA ARE URGED TO MONITOR THE LATEST WEATHER CONDITIONS AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER SHOULD SEVERE WEATHER THREATEN THE AREA. A FLASH FLOOD WATCH ALSO REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 20, 1:47 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Austin | 118 min |
| Feb 20, 3:05 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Austin, Colorado, Washington | 3 hr |
| Feb 20, 3:05 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Brazos, Burleson | 3 hr |
| Feb 20, 3:44 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Grimes | 3 hr |
| Feb 20, 3:59 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Madison | 2 hr |
| Feb 20, 4:04 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Waller | 116 min |
| Feb 20, 4:25 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Montgomery, Walker | 3 hr |
| Feb 20, 4:25 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Houston | 3 hr |
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.