Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997
Tornado Warning 66, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Oct 30, 1997, 4:29 PM CST for Brazoria County, Texas. It was in force for 46 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, 4:29 PM CST (22:29 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 30, 1997, 5:15 PM CST
- In force
- 46 min
- Issued by
- NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Brazoria County, TX
The radar
The Houston radar (KHGX), 48 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:32 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, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 240 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KHOU 302229 RRA TORHOU TXC039-302315- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 429 PM CST THU OCT 30 1997 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 515 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS ...NORTHERN BRAZORIA COUNTY AT 429 PM CST... WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO LOCATED 3 MILES WEST OF PEARLAND MOVING EAST AT 10 MPH. THIS STORM WILL BE IN THE PEARLAND AREA BEFORE 440 PM. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SAFETY IN A NEARBY REINFORCED BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK REFUGE IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
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, 1 hour 34 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Oct 30, 2:55 PM CST, 1 hour 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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 30, 2:48 PM CST | Tornado Warning | HGX | Montgomery | 42 min |
| Oct 30, 3:29 PM CST | Tornado Warning | HGX | Liberty, Montgomery | 61 min |
| Oct 30, 3:50 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazoria | 40 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.