Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 27, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at May 21, 1997, 7:43 PM CDT for Wharton 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
- May 21, 1997, 7:43 PM CDT (00:43 UTC)
- Expired
- May 21, 1997, 8:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 62 min
- Issued by
- NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Wharton County, TX
The radar
The Houston radar (KHGX), 113 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:44 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
Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 00:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 204 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
- 2064 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 489 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 24 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 28 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 71 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.8
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KHOU 220042 RRA TORHOU TXC481-220145- BULLETIN - EBS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 743 PM CDT WED MAY 21 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 845 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS ...WHARTON COUNTY AT 740 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM 11 MILES NORTHWEST OF EL CAMPO MOVING EAST-SOUTHEAST AT 20 MPH. EGYPT IS IN THE PATH OF THIS 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 WINDOWS2. 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 May 21, 7:42 PM CDT, 1 minute earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 21, 7:42 PM CDT, 1 minute before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 740 PM CDT WED MAY 21 1997 00Z CRP SOUNDING SHOWS DRY SPIKE ABOVE 790 MB. NOT SURPRISING THAT MESOCYCLONE DEVELOPED OVR COLORADO COUNTY. >50 DBZ EXTENDS TO NR 40 KFT FM THIS STORM BESIDES STRONG ROTATION. OTHERWISE...NOT MUCH HAS CHANGED FM PREV FCST DISCUSSION...HI PWS... RIGHT READ QUAD OF UPPER LVL JET OVR RGN TONITE...SFC CONFLUENT FLOW...HI LIS. COLLIDING BOUN.DARIES FM PRESENT CONVECTION MAY BE ENOUGH TO MAINTAIN CONVECTION FOR SEVERAL HOURS...DESPITE WEAKENING CAPES AS NIGHT PROGRESSES. NO CHANGE TO PREV FCST PACKAGE EXCEPT FOR CLL AREA 1ST PD POPS. RECOMMEND 30 PERCENT. #37
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 21, 2:34 PM CDT, 5 hours 9 minutes before
TXZ237-227-236-226-214-238-235-212230- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 231 PM CDT WED MAY 21 1997 AT 220 PM...NUMEROUS REPORTS OF FUNNEL CLOUDS HAD BEEN RECIEVED FROM THE PUBLIC...DPS AND SOUTH TEXAS PROJECT IN MATAGORDA COUNTY. A THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPING ALONG THE SEABREEZE PROMPTED THE FUNNEL CLOUD...THIS THUNDERSTORM WILL BE MOVING SLOWLY INLAND. OTHER THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP ALONG THE SEABREEZE FRONT THIS AFTERNOON AND GIVEN THE WINDS IN THE LOWER ATMOSPHERE MAY PRODUCE OTHER FUNNEL CLOUDS IN JACKSON...MATAGORDA...BRAZORIA...GALVESTON...CHAMBERS AND WHARTON COUNTIES. &
The office that day
Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 21, 7:09 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Colorado | 66 min |
| May 21, 8:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Austin | 50 min |
| May 21, 9:33 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Austin, Harris, Waller | 117 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.