Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 65, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

October 30, 1997Liberty County, Montgomery County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Oct 30, 1997, 3:29 PM CST for Liberty County, Montgomery County, Texas. It was in force for 61 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
Oct 30, 1997, 3:29 PM CST (21:29 UTC)
Expired
Oct 30, 1997, 4:30 PM CST
In force
61 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Liberty County, TX, Montgomery County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 84 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:32 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, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 189 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 1997-10-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 17 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 1997-10-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 110 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
17 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-211 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
703 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
110 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
96 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHOU 302129 RRA
TORHOU
TXC291-339-302230-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
329 PM CST THU OCT 30 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL  430 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...LIBERTY COUNTY...EASTERN MONTGOMERY COUNTY
 
AT 328 PM...RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A HISTORY OF
PRODUCING A FUNNEL CLOUD LOCATED 2 MILES WEST OF NEW CANEY. MOVEMENT WAS
EAST AT 10 MPH. THIS STORM WILL CROSS INTO WESTERN LIBERTY COUNTY AFTER
345 PM.
 
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 Oct 30, 2:55 PM CST, 34 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 30, 2:55 PM CST, 34 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
255 PM CST THU OCT 30 1997

RETURNING WARM FRONT HAS HELPED TO PUSH TEMPS UP THIS AFTN.  AS PER
SATELLITE LOOPS, THE NEXT S/W RIDING ALONG THE SUB-TROPICAL JET HAS
BEGUN TO MOVE INTO THE STATE.  LIFT FROM THIS DISTURBANCE SHOULD BE
ENHANCED AS PROGS KEEP SOME DIFFLUENCE ALOFT AND +90 KT JET STREAKS
IN FAVORABLE LOCATIONS IN REFERENCE TO SE TX.  OUR AIRMSS TO REMAIN
MOIST AND SOMEWHAT UNSTABLE SO WILL LIKELY KEEP POPS IN THE CHC CAT
FOR TONITE.  WITH THE AXIS OF THE UPPER TROF PROGGED TO REMAIN WEST
OF US UNTIL LATE TOMORROW (FRI)... AM A BIT RELUCTANT TO COMPLETELY
DROP POPS/CLOUDS UNTIL THEN.  WITH THE PASSAGE OF THE TROF...DRY NW
FLOW ALOFT TO HELP STABILIZE THINGS...ALL AHEAD OF THE NEXT PACIFIC
COLD FRONT.  THE FRONT IS EXPECTED TO MOVE ACROSS THE AREA LATE SAT
/EARLY SUN AND MAY ONLY HAVE LIMITED MOISTURE TO WORK WITH.  WOULD
ALSO LIKE TO INCLUDE THE MENTION OF PATCHY FOG FOR ALL AREAS TONIGHT.
41

PRELIMS...
CLL  E/E B/B  61/82 57/83  4222
IAH  E/E B/B  63/81 60/82  4222
GLS  E/E E/B  67/78 69/80  4333

The office that day

Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 30, 2:48 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXMontgomery42 min
Oct 30, 3:50 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazoria40 min
Oct 30, 4:29 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXBrazoria46 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.