Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 2, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

January 23, 1997Harris County, Liberty County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Jan 23, 1997, 3:00 PM CST for Harris County, Liberty County, Texas. It was in force for 60 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
Jan 23, 1997, 3:00 PM CST (21:00 UTC)
Expired
Jan 23, 1997, 4:00 PM CST
In force
60 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Harris County, TX, Liberty County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 59 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:59 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 12:00Z, 9.0 hours before the alert went out and 183 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 12:00Z on 1997-01-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 115 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 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 12:00Z on 1997-01-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 80 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
115 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-36 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
553 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
45 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
80 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
104 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

306 
WFUS1 KHOU 232103 RRA
TORHOU
TXC201-291-232200-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
300 PM CST THU JAN 23 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  400 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...NORTHEASTERN HARRIS COUNTY...LIBERTY COUNTY
 
AT 3 PM...RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM AT THE SOUTHERN END OF
LAKE HOUSTON. THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. HUFFMAN
AND DAYTON ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM.
 
IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO... SEEK SHELTER IN AN INTERIOR
ROOM... SUCH AS A CLOSET OR HALLWAY ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE.
AVOID WINDOWS AND PROTECT YOUR BODY FROM FLYING DEBRIS WITH
CUSHIONS... BLANKETS... OR PILLOWS.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 23, 5:05 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHouston55 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.