Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 1997
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 60, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Apr 25, 1997, 3:17 PM CDT for San Jacinto County, Texas. It was in force for 43 min. 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
- Apr 25, 1997, 3:17 PM CDT (20:17 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 25, 1997, 4:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 43 min
- Issued by
- NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County San Jacinto County, TX
The radar
The Houston radar (KHGX), 124 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:19 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 25, 3:25 PM CDT | Hail 0.88 | Pointblank, 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 25, 2:30 PM CDT | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 8.3 hours before the alert went out and 196 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
- 1388 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 57 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 131 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 472 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 4.4
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 Apr 25, 2:22 PM CDT, 55 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 25, 2:22 PM CDT, 55 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 220 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997 NOTHING TO BE OPTIMISTIC ABOUT NEXT 48-60H. CUT OFF LOW SETTLING STRAIGHT SOUTH INTO OLD MEXICO THIS AFTERNOON. WARM FRONT NOT LIKELY TO MOVE MUCH FURTHER NORTH THAN OVER OUR COUNTIES. STRONG MERIDIONAL FLOW ACROSS WESTERN GULF AND EASTERN TEXAS WILL PROVIDE FUEL FOR EXCESSIVE RAINFALL AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS. MODELS SHOW IMPULSES MOVING ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS THIS EVENING...SATURDAY AND LATE SATURDAY NIGHT. EVEN WITHOUT THIS ADDED FOCUS...STRONG LIFTING OVER EAST-WEST WARM FRONT CONTINUES TO TO PRODUCE RAIN AND THUNDERSTORMS. SEVERE POTENTIAL EXISTS ALSO...GOLF BALL HAIL ALREADY REPORTED TODAY. SHEAR MAXIMIZED ALONG FRONTAL ZONE WILL GIVE POTENTIAL FOR TORNADOES. GIVEN PROLONGED NATURE OF EVENT ALONG WITH ALREADY HIGH RIVER LEVELS AND SOIL MOISTURE...REALLY CONCERNED ABOUT POTENTIAL OF SERIOUS FLOODING. MORNING STORMS PRODUCED 3-5 INCHS NORTHWEST GALVESTON COUNTY. WOULD NOT BE SURPRIZED TO SEE SOME ISOLATED 10 INCH TOTALS BEFORE THIS IS OVER. OBVIOUSLY FLASH FLOOD WATCH UP FOR WHOLE AREA. IF THAT WASNT ENOUGH...PERSISTENT EAST WIND AT 20 TO 30 MPH HAS BROUGHT TIDES TO FLOOD LEVELS ON THE COAST AND IN THE BAYS WARRANTING A COASTAL FLOOD WARNING. MODELS DONT MOVE SYSTEM EAST OF AREA TIL LATE IN THE DAY SUNDAY. PRELIMS... CLL T/T T/T 62/75/65/75 100/80/80/60 IAH T/T T/T 63/75/65/78 100/80/80/70 GLS T/TR T/T 68/75/68/75 100/80/80/70 30
In the hours before
Special weather statement, Apr 25, 2:15 PM CDT, 1 hour 2 minutes before
TXZ177>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-511-513-260115- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 215 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH EFFECTIVE UNTIL 8 PM FOR MOST OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS. THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES ARE INCLUDED IN THE WATCH AREA: BRAZOS...BURLESON...GRIMES...WALKER... SAN JACINTO...POLK...WASHINGTON...COLORADO...AUSTIN...WALLER... MONTGOMERY...LIBERTY...JACKSON...WHARTON...FORT BEND...HARRIS... MATAGORDA...BRAZORIA...GALVESTON...AND CHAMBERS COUNTIES INCLUDING THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS. MILAM COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS IS ALSO INCLUDED IN THE WATCH AREA. REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TO FORM IN AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD KEEP ABREAST OF THE LATEST WEATHER DEVELOPMENTS AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER SHOULD SEVERE WEATHER APPROACH YOUR AREA. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL OR CABLE TV...OR RADIO FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, Apr 25, 2:16 PM CDT, 1 hour 1 minute before
TXZ177>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-511-513-260115- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 215 PM CDT FRI APR 25 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH EFFECTIVE UNTIL 8 PM FOR MOST OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS. THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES ARE INCLUDED IN THE WATCH AREA: BRAZOS...BURLESON...GRIMES...WALKER... SAN JACINTO...POLK...WASHINGTON...COLORADO...AUSTIN...WALLER... MONTGOMERY...LIBERTY...JACKSON...WHARTON...FORT BEND...HARRIS... MATAGORDA...BRAZORIA...GALVESTON...AND CHAMBERS COUNTIES INCLUDING THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS. MILAM COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS IS ALSO INCLUDED IN THE WATCH AREA. REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TO FORM IN AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD KEEP ABREAST OF THE LATEST WEATHER DEVELOPMENTS AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER SHOULD SEVERE WEATHER APPROACH YOUR AREA. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...LOCAL OR CABLE TV...OR RADIO FOR FURTHER STATEMENTS OR POSSIBLE WARNINGS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 25, 8:24 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Wharton | 66 min |
| Apr 25, 8:47 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Fort Bend | 58 min |
| Apr 25, 9:05 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Austin, Waller | 55 min |
| Apr 25, 9:35 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris | 55 min |
| Apr 25, 9:56 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Waller | 64 min |
| Apr 25, 10:18 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazos, Grimes, Washington | 57 min |
| Apr 25, 10:48 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Montgomery | 57 min |
| Apr 25, 11:16 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris | 59 min |
| Apr 25, 11:25 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Walker | 65 min |
| Apr 25, 12:01 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Chambers, Liberty | 59 min |
| Apr 25, 3:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Polk, Trinity | 65 min |
| Apr 25, 3:54 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Brazoria, Fort Bend, Harris | 4 hr |
| Apr 25, 3:54 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Galveston | 4 hr |
| Apr 25, 4:38 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Grimes | 67 min |
| Apr 25, 5:48 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Waller | 4 hr |
| Apr 25, 5:56 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Polk | 64 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.