Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 37, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

June 5, 1997Galveston County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 5, 1997, 12:20 PM CDT for Galveston County, Texas. It was in force for 40 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
Jun 5, 1997, 12:20 PM CDT (17:20 UTC)
Expired
Jun 5, 1997, 1:00 PM CDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Galveston County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 32 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:20 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, 5.3 hours before the alert went out and 180 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 1997-06-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 285 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 1997-06-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 26 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
285 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-53 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1060 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
26 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
26 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
66 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHOU 051724 RRA
TORHOU
TXC167-051800-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
1220 PM CDT THU JUN 5 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  100 PM CDT
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...GALVESTON COUNTY
 
AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS
 
AT 1122 AM...GALVESTON BEACH PATROL REPORTED A TORNADO IN GALVESTON
NEAR THE KROGER STORE ON THE SEAWALL. RADAR INDICATED A SMALL
THUNDERSTORM OVER THE ISLAND MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH.
 
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.
 
 
 
&

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 Jun 5, 8:52 AM CDT, 3 hours 28 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 5, 8:52 AM CDT, 3 hours 28 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
852 AM CDT THU JUN 5 1997

AFTER CHECKING OVR YSTRDY/S 12Z AND LST NGT/S 00Z ETA AND AVN MDLS...
IT APPEARS THAT A COMBINATION OF BOTH DID WELL WITH THE PCPN THAT
OCCURRED NR AND OVR SETX.  BOTH MDLS SHOW THAT NVA WL BLD INTO SETX
TDY WITH NRLY WNDS DRYING OUT THE LYR MSTR.  THUS...OTHER THAN SOME
MID AND HI LVL CLDS...FEEL THAT THE RAIN THREAT IS PRETTY MUCH OVR
WITH ACRS THE INLAND PTNS OF THE FCST AREA.  (WL COVER THE CSTL
WATERS WITH THE SHORT TERM FCST.)  SATL AND RDR CONFIRM THIS BY
SHOWING THE SHRAS AND TSTMS NR PSX MOVG OUT INTO THE GLF.  THUS...
JUST NEED TO REWORD THE CURRENT FCST TO TAKE OUT THE MENTION OF AM
SHRAS.  TEMP FCST LOOKS REASONABLE.  40

PREV PRELIMS UPDATED...
CLL BABA  89/66 90/67  0000
IAH BABA  87/66 89/67  -000
GLS BABA  85/74 86/75  -000

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.