Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 35, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at May 31, 1997, 12:30 AM CDT for Austin 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
- May 31, 1997, 12:30 AM CDT (05:30 UTC)
- Expired
- May 31, 1997, 1:30 AM CDT
- In force
- 60 min
- Issued by
- NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Austin County, TX
The radar
The Houston radar (KHGX), 125 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:30 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 12:35 AM CDT | Hail 1.75 | Bellville, TX | |
| May 31, 12:35 AM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | Bellville, TX | Powerlines blown down |
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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| May 31, 12:00 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Watch | SPC | 5 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 00:00Z, 5.5 hours before the alert went out and 261 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
- 2212 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -94 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 900 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 34 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 72 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 152 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 1.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KHOU 310530 RRA TORHOU TXC015-310630- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 1230 AM CDT SAT MAY 31 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 130 AM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS ...AUSTIN COUNTY AT 1230 AM...RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM OVER BELLVILLE MOVING SOUTH AT 15 MPH. CAT SPRING IS ALSO 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 WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFOR CED 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 30, 8:04 PM CDT, 4 hours 26 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, May 30, 8:04 PM CDT, 4 hours 26 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 745 PM CDT FRI MAY 30 1997 WL NEED SOME TWEAKING OF 1ST/2D NOS/WORDING. COMPROMISE BETWEEN NGM/ETA ON CDFNT MOVEMENT BES
In the hours before
Special weather statement, May 30, 8:30 PM CDT, 4 hours before
TXZ176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-511-513-311000- SEVERE WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 830 PM CDT FRI MAY 30 1997 A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL CONTINUE TO EXIST OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS TONIGHT. A LATE SPRING COLD FRONT WAS MOVING ACROSS NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS EARLY THIS EVENING...AND WAS NEAR A TYLER...WACO... SAN ANGELO LINE. THIS FRONT IS EXPECTED TO APPROACH THE COLLEGE STATION AREA AROUND 1-2 AM...THE HOUSTON AREA AROUND 3-4 AM...AND GALVESTON AROUND 5-6 AM. THE AIRMASS OVER SOUTHEAST TEXAS REMAINS VERY MOIST AND UNSTABLE THIS EVENING...AND IS EXPECTED TO REMAIN SO WHEN THE COLD FRONT APPROACHES. THE WIND PROFILE IS SUCH THAT WIDESPREAD CONVECTION OVER OUR REGION IS NOT ANTICIPATED. HOWEVER...ENOUGH INSTABILITIES EXIST THAT SOME OF THE THUNDERSTORMS THAT DEVELOP TONITE IN OUR REGION...AHEAD OF AND NEAR THE COLD FRONT...MAY BECOME SEVERE. THE THREAT OF SEVERE WEATHER WILL COME IN THE FORM OF LARGE HAIL... DAMAGING WINDS AND...POSSIBLY ISOLATED TORNADOES. RAINFALL AMOUNTS WITH THESE STORMS WILL AVERAGE 1/2 TO 1 INCH WITH ISOLATED TOTALS OF 2 TO 3 INCHES POSSIBLE BY SATURDAY MORNING. EMERGENCY MANAGERS AND SKYWARN SPOTTERS SHOULD PREPARE FOR POSSIBLE ACTIVATION LATER TONIGHT. RESIDENTS ACROSS THE AREA ARE ENCOURAGED TO MONITOR NOAA WEATHER RADIO AND OTHER WEATHER NEWS SOURCES FOR FURTHER UPDATES AND POSSIBLE WATCHES AND WARNINGS.
Special weather statement, May 30, 11:45 PM CDT, 45 minutes before
TXZ178-179-197>200-210>214-226>227-235>238-311145- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 1145 PM CDT FRI MAY 30 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH EFFECTIVE UNTIL 5 AM FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS. THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES ARE INCLUDED IN THE WATCH AREA:AUSTIN...BRAZORIA... CHAMBERS...COLORADO...FORT BEND...GALVESTON...GRIMES...HARRIS... HOUSTON...JACKSON...LIBERTY...MATAGORDA...MONTGOMERY...POLK... SAN JACINTO...WALLER...WASHINGTON...WAHRTON AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS. A COOL FRONT MOVING THROUGH NORTH TEXAS WILL ENCOUNTER A MOIST AND UNSTABLE AIRMASS AS IT CONTINUES MOVING TO THE SOUTH. THIS UNSTABLE AIRMASS COMBINED WITH AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL CREATE AN ENVIRONMENT CONDUCTIVE FOR THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. SOME OF THE STORMS MAY REACH SEVERE LIMITS. REMEMBER A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA. PERSONS IN THE AREA SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING WEATHER AND BE PREPARED TO SEEK SHELTER. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR YOUR LOCAL RADIO OR TV STATION FOR LATER STATEMENTS OR WARNINGS CONCERNING THIS SEVERE WEATHER SITUATION.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| May 30, 10:13 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Houston, Madison | 62 min |
| May 30, 10:44 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazos | 61 min |
| May 30, 10:59 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Polk, Trinity | 61 min |
| May 30, 11:02 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Madison | 58 min |
| May 30, 11:12 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Grimes, Walker | 63 min |
| May 30, 11:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris, Montgomery | 55 min |
| May 30, 11:30 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Liberty, San Jacinto | 60 min |
| May 30, 11:38 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Harris | 67 min |
| May 30, 11:47 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Austin | 58 min |
| May 30, 11:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Montgomery | 55 min |
| May 31, 12:07 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Washington | 68 min |
| May 31, 12:23 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Harris, Montgomery | 3 hr |
| May 31, 12:27 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Harris, Liberty, Montgomery | 63 min |
| May 31, 12:54 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Chambers | 66 min |
| May 31, 1:02 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Colorado | 58 min |
| May 31, 1:28 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazoria, Fort Bend, Harris | 62 min |
| May 31, 1:28 AM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Galveston | 62 min |
| May 31, 3:59 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Jackson | 61 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.