Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 42, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 21, 1997, 5:37 PM CDT for Wharton County, Texas. It was in force for 53 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 21, 1997, 5:37 PM CDT (22:37 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 21, 1997, 6:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 53 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 22:41 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 21, 5:45 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | El Campo, TX | House on Thrift St. moved 4 feet off concrete piers. Bard sustained minor damage in Pierce. |
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, 10.6 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
- 3868 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -1 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 570 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 16 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 69 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 73 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.0
- Supercell composite
- 5.6
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
970 WFUS1 KHOU 212235 RRA TORHOU TXC481-212330- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 537 PM CDT SAT JUN 21 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 630 PM CDT FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS ...WHARTON COUNTY AT 535 PM CDT...RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM JUST SOUTH OF EL CAMPO. THIS STORM WAS MOVING TO THE NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH ALONG HIGHWAY 59. THE CITY OF WHARTON IS IN THE PATH. 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 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 Jun 21, 2:59 PM CDT, 2 hours 38 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 21, 2:59 PM CDT, 2 hours 38 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 255 PM CDT SAT JUN 21 1997 WILL GO WITH FLASH FLOOD WATCH WEST OF MADISONVILLE...CLEVELAND... HOUSTON...FREEPORT LINE. OUTFLOW FROM MCS SETTING UP NE-SW BOUNDARY ACROSS FA FOR TONIGHT. MESOETA SHOWS POTENT INFLOW OF MOISTURE RICH AIR THRU SUNDAY AS SYNOPTIC UPPER FEATURES STAY VIRTUALLY STATIONARY. M-CLASS SOUNDING TAKEN AT HGX AT 18Z SHOWED SIGNIFICANT DEEPENING OF MOIST BOUNDARY LAYER CONSISTENT WITH MODEL FORECAST. WOULD EXPECT SOME AREAS TO RECEIVE IN EXCESS OF 5 INCHES OF RAINFALL OVERNIGHT. THREAT COULD CONTINUE INTO MONDAY DEPENDING ON WHERE BOUNDARIES END UP FROM ONGOING CONVECTION. CLL...69/82/70/85 90/60/40/40 IAH...75/86/75/88 70/60/40/40 GLS...79/84/79/85 40/50/40/40 PSX...78/84/79/85 80/60/40/40 30
The office that day
Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 21, 4:30 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Colorado, Jackson, Wharton | 3 hr |
| Jun 21, 6:14 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Austin, Fort Bend | 61 min |
| Jun 21, 6:20 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazoria, Matagorda | 55 min |
| Jun 21, 6:33 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris, Waller | 57 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.