Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 41, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 18, 1997, 2:26 PM CDT for Brazoria County, Matagorda County, Texas. It was in force for 34 min. 1 report 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
- Jun 18, 1997, 2:26 PM CDT (19:26 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 18, 1997, 3:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 34 min
- Issued by
- NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Brazoria County, TX, Matagorda County, TX
The radar
The Houston radar (KHGX), 83 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:28 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 18, 2:27 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind 52 | Clute, TX | Large limbs 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 nearest sounding before it
Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 7.4 hours before the alert went out and 211 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
- 4382 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- 0 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 472 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 6 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -196 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -262 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- -3.8
- Supercell composite
- -22.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KHOU 181928 RRA TORHOU TXC039-321-182000- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 226 PM CDT WED JUN 18 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 300 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS... IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS ...SOUTHERN BRAZORIA COUNTY...SOUTHERN MATAGORDA COUNTY AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS AT 227 PM...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM LOCATED ALONG THE COAST BETWEEN SARGENT AND FREEPORT. THIS STORM WAS DRIFTING VERY SLOWLY SOUTHWEST. 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 18, 2:25 PM CDT, 1 minute earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 18, 2:25 PM CDT, 1 minute before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 225 PM CDT WED JUN 18 1997 RELATIVELY COOL OUTFLOW FROM CONVECTION UPPER TX/S LA COAST HAS COLLIDED W/WEAK SEA BREEZE OVER BRAZORIA/MATAGORDA COUNTIES PRODUCING STRONG CONVECTION. BOTH AVN/ETA SHOWS UPPER SHEAR ZONE OVR TX W/OUR RGN ON THE EAST SIDE. BY SATURDAY...CYCLONIC CIRCULATION ALOFT SHOWN BY AVN SHIFTING WESTWARD TO CNTL/W TX. HI PWS/70+ DPS WL REMAIN OVR FA. WK SUBTROPICAL JET MOVG ACRS RGN NXT TWO DAYS. MESO-DRIVEN ACTIVITY WL BE THE NORM. NGM MOS POPS ON THE LOW SIDE IN LIGHT OF AFOREMENTIONED REASONS. WL STAY CLOSE TO NGM MOS TEMPS. 37 CLL B/B B/B 70/93 70/94 2323 IAH B/E B/E 73/93 73/94 3323 GLS E/E E/E 80/89 80/89 3333
The office that day
Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 18, 2:00 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazoria | 45 min |
| Jun 18, 2:15 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Brazoria | 3 hr |
| Jun 18, 3:05 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Matagorda | 40 min |
| Jun 18, 3:41 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Jackson | 49 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.