Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 236, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

December 7, 1997Harris County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Dec 7, 1997, 7:51 PM CST for Harris County, Texas. It was in force for 54 min. 2 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
Dec 7, 1997, 7:51 PM CST (01:51 UTC)
Expired
Dec 7, 1997, 8:45 PM CST
In force
54 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Harris County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 52 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:51 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Dec 7, 8:15 PM CSTThunderstorm WindSheldon, TXTrees and powerlines blown down.
Dec 7, 8:15 PM CSTThunderstorm WindHighlands, TXNumerous trees and powerlines blown down. Structural damage mainly to roofs.

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, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 213 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 1997-12-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 1997-12-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 356 square meters per square second.1939587897117136Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
1270 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
64 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
356 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
565 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 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 Dec 7, 2:10 PM CST, 5 hours 41 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 7, 2:10 PM CST, 5 hours 41 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED 1ST PERIOD POPS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
210 PM CST SUN DEC 7 1997

MOSTLY -RA HAS FALLEN ACROSS PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS SO FAR THIS
AFTERNOON AS PRECIP PATCHES HAVE BEEN MOVING RAPIDLY OFF TO THE NE
AROUND 25 KNOTS.  SHORTWAVE PRESENTLY RACING THROUGH SOUTHERN NEW
MEXICO TOWARD WEST TEXAS.  AREA SURFACE PRESSURES CONTINUE TO FALL
RAPIDLY WITH DEVELOPING SURFACE LOW SOMEWHERE BETWEEN CRP AND MFE.
IN RESPONSE...COASTAL WINDS HAVE PICKED UP TO AROUND 15 TO 20 KNOTS
AS GRADIENT TIGHTENS.  LATEST MODEL EXAMINATION STILL POINTS TO A
GOOD CHANCE OF LOCALLY +RA ACROSS THE IAH AND GLS ZONE GROUPS...WITH
A BULLSEYE AT 08/00Z.  STRONG UVM (ASSOCIATED WITH 50 KNOT 850 MB LOW
LEVEL JET AND >130 KNOT UPPER LEVEL JET) AND POOLING PW VALUES (1.25
TO 1.50 INCHES) WILL RESULT FROM COMBINATION OF PREVIOUSLY MENTIONED
SURFACE LOW DOWN SOUTH AND UPPER LOW OUT WEST.  THESE FEATURES WILL
LEAD TO SHRA/TSRA FORMATION LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING.
WILL KEEP MENTION OF LOCALLY +RA IN IAH AND GLS ZONES.  PRECIP WILL
COME TO AN END BY 08/06Z AS SURFACE AND UPPER LEVEL LOWS MOVE OFF TO
OUR EAST AND DRIER AIR BEGINS TO FILTER INTO THE AREA.

DRY SOUTHWEST TO WEST WINDS TOMORROW WILL LEAD TO A BIG WARMUP
(COMPARED TO THE LAST WEEK OR SO) FOR MONDAY AND TUESDAY.  AREA
REMAINS IN A ZONAL FLOW WITH ACTIVE EASTWARD MOVING IMPULSES STAYING
NORTH OF THE AREA.  EXPECT TUESDAY MORNING COLD FROPA TO BE A DRY ONE.

PRELIMS

CLL T/B A/B 049/072 050/072 8000
IAH T/B A/B 052/072 051/072 9000
GLS T/B A/B 061/071 062/071 9000

 - 1ST PD...ALL ZONE EVENING POPS...ENDING BY MIDNIGHT
 - 2ND PD...CLL PARTLY CLOUDY
         ...IAH AND GLS BECOMING PARTLY CLOUDY

42

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Dec 7, 2:29 PM CST, 5 hours 22 minutes before
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The office that day

Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 7, 8:40 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXChambers2 hr
Dec 7, 8:59 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXChambers2 hr
Dec 7, 9:09 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazoria, Galveston66 min
Dec 7, 9:28 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXGalveston62 min
Dec 8, 12:31 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXGalveston119 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.