Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 237, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

December 7, 1997Chambers County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Dec 7, 1997, 8:59 PM CST for Chambers County, Texas. It was in force for 2 hr. 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
Dec 7, 1997, 8:59 PM CST (02:59 UTC)
Expired
Dec 7, 1997, 11:00 PM CST
In force
2 hr
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Chambers County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 47 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 03:01 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, 9:05 PM CSTThunderstorm WindAnahuac, TXPowerlines 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, 3.0 hours before the alert went out and 149 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, 8:50 PM CST, 9 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 7, 8:50 PM CST, 9 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
848 PM CST SUN DEC 7 1997

SVR STORMS SPINNING UP ALONG THE WARM FRONT WITH LIKELY MERGERS OF STORMS OVER THE EXTREME SE ZONES.  THIS SHOULD PRODUCE A FAIRLY FAST MOVING CLUSTER OF VERY INTENSE RAINFALL EASTWARD ALONG THE COASTAL ZONES OF SETX AND LA. WINDS HAVE BEEN COMING AROUND IN RESPONSE TO MESO LOW NEAR THE OFFICE.  SKIES WILL BE SLOW TO CLEAR IN THE WAY OF CLOUDS SOR FOR THE TIME BEING CAN LEAVE THEM CLOUDY.  WILL HAVE TO UPDATE ZONES BEFORE MIDNIGHT.

45
CLL T/B A/B 049/072 050/072 4000 SHRA
IAH T/B A/B 052/072 051/072 7000 TSRA
GLS T/B A/B 061/071 062/071 7000 TSRA

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 7, 7:51 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHarris54 min
Dec 7, 8:40 PM CSTFlash Flood 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.