Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1997

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

January 27, 1997Galveston County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Jan 27, 1997, 9:21 PM CST for Galveston County, Texas. It was in force for 69 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
Jan 27, 1997, 9:21 PM CST (03:21 UTC)
Expired
Jan 27, 1997, 10:30 PM CST
In force
69 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 03:23 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 00:00Z, 3.4 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 00:00Z on 1997-01-28Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1472 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 00:00Z on 1997-01-28The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 114 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1472 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-17 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
733 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
32 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
114 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
131 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
5.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHOU 280324 RRA
TORHOU
TXC167-280430-
 
BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
921 PM CST MON JAN 27 1997
 
THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 1030 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION...
 
IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
 
   ...GALVESTON COUNTY
 
AND ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS
 
AT 920 PM...RADAR INDICATED A POSSIBLE TORNADO OVER WEST BAY. THIS STORM
WAS MOVING EAST NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. GALVESTON ISLAND FROM JAMAICA
THROUGH GALVESTON IS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM.
 
TORRENTIAL RAIN WILL ALSO ACCOMPANY THIS STORM.  A FLASH FLOOD WARNING
IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 1130 PM.
 
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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 27, 6:20 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXBrazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Harris, Liberty3 hr
Jan 27, 6:24 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXLiberty51 min
Jan 27, 6:40 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXChambers, Harris65 min
Jan 27, 6:52 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazoria68 min
Jan 27, 7:06 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXGalveston69 min
Jan 27, 7:14 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXChambers, Harris61 min
Jan 27, 7:36 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXChambers69 min
Jan 27, 8:10 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXGalveston65 min
Jan 27, 8:24 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXGalveston3 hr
Jan 27, 8:30 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXPolk60 min
Jan 27, 9:03 PM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXBrazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Harris, Liberty3 hr

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.