Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

January 21, 1998Brazos County, Grimes County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Jan 21, 1998, 4:48 PM CST for Brazos County, Grimes County, Texas. It was in force for 62 min. 3 reports 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
Jan 21, 1998, 4:48 PM CST (22:48 UTC)
Expired
Jan 21, 1998, 5:50 PM CST
In force
62 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Brazos County, TX, Grimes County, TX

The radar

The Ft Hood radar (KGRK), 119 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:49 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Jan 21, 5:20 PM CSTHail 1.75Shiro, TX
Jan 21, 5:29 PM CSTTornado F0Richards, TXTornado downed trees and powerlines in Richards. As the tornado moved into Montgomery County along FM 149, a barn roof was damaged 3 miles east of Richards, and a tree limb was blown through the metal on a car door. The storm continued moving to the east-nor
Jan 21, 6:00 PM CSTHail 1.75Roans Prairie, TX

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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Jan 21, 2:15 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 271 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 1998-01-21Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 45 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 1998-01-21The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 92 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
45 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-18 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
500 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
54 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
92 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
154 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 212248 RRA
TORHOU
TXC041-185-212350-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
448 PM CST WED JAN 21 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 550 PM CST
FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATIONS...

IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS

   ...SOUTHERN BRAZOS COUNTY
   ...GRIMES COUNTY

AT 447 PM CST... WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR MILLICAN
MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.  ANDERSON IS IN THE PATH OF THIS STORM.  THIS
STORM HAS A HISTORY OF PRODUCING BASEBALL SIZE HAIL.

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.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jan 21, 1:17 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXColorado58 min
Jan 21, 1:45 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXAustin60 min
Jan 21, 1:58 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXAustin, Colorado62 min
Jan 21, 3:05 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXBurleson60 min
Jan 21, 3:15 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXMatagorda60 min
Jan 21, 3:28 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXJackson62 min
Jan 21, 3:41 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXWashington64 min
Jan 21, 4:04 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXBurleson46 min
Jan 21, 4:11 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazos64 min
Jan 21, 4:47 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXMadison63 min
Jan 21, 4:57 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXFort Bend, Wharton63 min
Jan 21, 5:00 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXJackson, Matagorda65 min
Jan 21, 5:21 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXMatagorda64 min
Jan 21, 5:25 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXMontgomery, Walker65 min
Jan 21, 5:34 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXHouston, Madison66 min
Jan 21, 5:52 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXGrimes48 min
Jan 21, 5:59 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXFort Bend61 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1998Every tornado warning in 1998Tornadoes in 1998

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.