Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 17, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Apr 11, 1997, 2:28 AM CDT for Brazoria County, Texas. It was in force for 62 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The counties it named.
The facts
- Issued
- Apr 11, 1997, 2:28 AM CDT (07:28 UTC)
- Expired
- Apr 11, 1997, 3:30 AM CDT
- In force
- 62 min
- Issued by
- NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Brazoria County, TX
The radar
The Houston radar (KHGX), 48 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 07:29 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.
The nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 7.5 hours before the alert went out and 240 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
- 22 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -81 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 946 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 37 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 11 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 108 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KHOU 110730 RRA TORHOU TXC039-110830- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 228 AM CDT FRI APR 11 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 330 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS ...BRAZORIA COUNTY AT 229 AM...A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM WAS INDICATED NEAR DAMON MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH. BONNIE AND ROSHARON ARE IN THE PATH OF THE STORM. THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO... GO TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this tornado 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 tornado warning went out at Apr 11, 1:22 AM CDT, 1 hour 6 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Apr 11, 1:22 AM CDT, 1 hour 6 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 120 AM CDT FRI APR 11 1997 ...VERY DANGEROUS FLOODING SITUTATION UNDERWAY... MCS THAT MOVED INTO THE SW ZONES SHOULD SLOW IN ITS NORTHEASTWARD MOVEMENT AND BEGIN TO TURN MORE EAST AFTER 3 AM. LOW LEVEL/MESOSCALE FEATURES INDICATING THAT SIGNIFICANT TRAINING WILL BE A PROBLEM THROUGH 12Z. AND TO TOP IT ALL OFF IT APPEARS FROM WATER VAPOR THAT OUTFLOW JET BECOMING PRONOUNCED ON THE WEST SIDE OF THE COMPLEX HELPING IN THE ORGANIZATION. RADAR ALREADY INDICATING STORM TOTAL RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF AROUND 5 INCHES NEAR EL CAMPO AND 9 TO 10 INCHES NEAR HALLETSVILLE! (SOME OF THE PRECIP OVER THESE AREAS MAY BE GETTING SOME HAIL CONTAMINATION...ALTHOUGH SO FAR NO GROUNDTRUTH BACK OF HAIL WITH THESE STORMS.) ALSO OF NOTE THE VERY STRONG MESO ALONG THE SLOW MOVING PSEUDO WARM FRONT OVER WATER. AT THIS RATE NOT ONLY WILL WE HAVE FLOODING PROBLEMS BUT SEVERE AS WELL. WILL NEED TO EXPAND FFA A LITTLE FURTHER NORTH AND MUCH FURTHER EAST AND ADD MENTION OF SEVERE FOR A LARGE PART OF THE AREA...ALTHOUGH THE SPEED SHEAR IS NOT TREMENDOUS THE TURNING IS IMPRESSIVE AND THE CAPE IS RATHER APPARENT BY LOOKING AT THE REFLECTIVITY MAXIMA ALOFT A NUMBER OF STORMS DEVELOPING STRONG MESOS OVER THE SW ZONES. LATEST 3HR PRECIP ESTIMATES RUNNING IN EXCESS OF 7 INCHES. 45 WILL FOLLOW WITH TEMPS AND POPS AS TIME PERMITS.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Apr 10, 10:26 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Matagorda | 59 min |
| Apr 10, 11:40 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Wharton | 65 min |
| Apr 11, 12:45 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Wharton | 60 min |
| Apr 11, 1:07 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Wharton | 118 min |
| Apr 11, 1:40 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Wharton | 65 min |
| Apr 11, 2:04 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Fort Bend | 61 min |
| Apr 11, 2:28 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Fort Bend, Wharton | 3 hr |
| Apr 11, 2:40 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Wharton | 65 min |
| Apr 11, 2:58 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazoria, Fort Bend | 62 min |
| Apr 11, 3:42 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Matagorda, Wharton | 33 min |
| Apr 11, 3:59 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazoria | 61 min |
| Apr 11, 4:08 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Brazoria | 3 hr |
| Apr 11, 4:22 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Brazoria, Galveston | 68 min |
| Apr 11, 5:23 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Matagorda | 67 min |
| Apr 11, 5:26 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Galveston | 64 min |
| Apr 11, 5:27 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris | 63 min |
| Apr 11, 5:33 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Galveston | 3 hr |
| Apr 11, 5:45 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazoria | 60 min |
| Apr 11, 9:24 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Wharton | 4 hr |
| Apr 11, 3:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris | 60 min |
| Apr 11, 4:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris, Montgomery | 65 min |
| Apr 11, 5:06 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Liberty | 64 min |
| Apr 11, 5:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris | 58 min |
| Apr 11, 6:11 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Harris | 49 min |
| Apr 11, 6:45 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Chambers | 60 min |
| Apr 11, 6:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris | 32 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.