Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 236, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
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
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 7, 8:15 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind | Sheldon, TX | Trees and powerlines blown down. |
| Dec 7, 8:15 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind | Highlands, TX | Numerous 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.
- 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
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
42In the hours before
Special weather statement, Dec 7, 2:29 PM CST, 5 hours 22 minutes before
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</html>The office that day
Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 7, 8:40 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Chambers | 2 hr |
| Dec 7, 8:59 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Chambers | 2 hr |
| Dec 7, 9:09 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazoria, Galveston | 66 min |
| Dec 7, 9:28 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Galveston | 62 min |
| Dec 8, 12:31 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Galveston | 119 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.