Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

April 4, 1997Trinity County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Apr 4, 1997, 2:05 PM CST for Trinity County, Texas. It was in force for 60 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
Apr 4, 1997, 2:05 PM CST (20:05 UTC)
Expired
Apr 4, 1997, 3:05 PM CST
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Trinity County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 180 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:09 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
Apr 4, 2:30 PM CSTTornado F0Pennington, TX
Apr 4, 2:50 PM CSTTornado F0Nogalus, 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 nearest sounding before it

Shreveport, LA (KSHV), launched 12:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 203 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, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 1997-04-04Temperature 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°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Shreveport, LA at 12:00Z on 1997-04-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 154 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
533 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
21 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
154 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
237 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

000 
TTAA00 KHOU 042005 RRA
TORHOU
TXC455-042105-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
205 PM CDT FRI APR 4 1997

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 305 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...

IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS

   ...TRINITY COUNTY
 
AT 2 PM...RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO 4 MILES SOUTHEAST OF
TRINITY MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHEAST AT 40 MPH.  GROVETON IS IN THE
PATH OF THIS STORM.

IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...THE SAFEST PLACE IS A
BASEMENT. GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO
BASEMENT IS AVAILABLE...SEEK SAFETY IN AN INTERIOR ROOM SUCH AS A
CLOSET ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. USE BLANKETS...PILLOWS...OR CUSHIONS TO
COVER YOUR BODY. AVOID WINDOWS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Apr 4, 2:59 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXJackson2 hr
Apr 4, 3:04 AM CSTTornado WarningHGXJackson56 min
Apr 4, 3:39 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXWharton3 hr
Apr 4, 4:32 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXFort Bend3 hr
Apr 4, 4:49 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXJackson116 min
Apr 4, 5:35 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXHarris115 min
Apr 4, 6:32 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXLiberty118 min
Apr 4, 7:29 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXHarris2 hr
Apr 4, 1:40 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXHouston60 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1997Every tornado warning in 1997Tornadoes 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.