Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 21, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Feb 10, 1998, 12:14 PM CST for Harris County, Texas. It was in force for 61 min. 4 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
- Feb 10, 1998, 12:14 PM CST (18:14 UTC)
- Expired
- Feb 10, 1998, 1:15 PM CST
- In force
- 61 min
- Issued by
- NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Harris County, TX
The radar
The Houston radar (KHGX), 52 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:15 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 10, 12:49 PM CST | Tornado F1 | Baytown, TX | Tornado touched down on the Exxon refinery west of Decker Rd., then travelled NE for 3 miles. Damage to the Exxon cooling tower, major damage to the Days Inn on Decker Rd, numerous apartment complexes and residences in the Allen Brook Subdivision. This was o |
| Feb 10, 12:54 PM CST | Tornado F1 | Baytown, TX | Second tornado touchdown just east of where the first one lifted. This tornado travelled NE for 4 miles before lifting at HWY 146 & Staples Rd. Structural damage to homes in Chapparal Village. |
| Feb 10, 12:55 PM CST | Thunderstorm Wind | Crosby, TX | Walton Feed Store roof blown off. |
| Feb 10, 12:57 PM CST | Tornado F1 | Baytown, TX | Third tornado touchdown 1.5 miles south of HWY 146 in Baytown. Billboards snapped, and damage to mobile homes at a local dealership. |
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.
| Issued | Product | Office | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 10, 10:00 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 6.2 hours before the alert went out and 213 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
- 380 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -57 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 709 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 47 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 125 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 182 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.2
- Supercell composite
- 1.2
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KHOU 101814 RRA TORHOU TXC201-101915- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 1214 PM CST TUE FEB 10 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WARNING EFFECTIVE UNTIL 115 PM CST FOR PEOPLE IN THE FOLLOWING LOCATION... IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS ...EASTERN HARRIS COUNTY AT 1212 PM CST... WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM 3 MILES SOUTHWEST OF DEER PARK MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. DEER PARK AND BAYTOWN ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS DANGEROUS STORM. DO NOT USE YOUR CAR TO TRY TO OUTRUN A TORNADO. CARS ARE EASILY TOSSED AROUND BY TORNADO WINDS. IF YOU ARE CAUGHT IN THE PATH OF A TORNADO...LEAVE THE CAR AND GO TO A STRONG BUILDING. IF NO STURDY STRUCTURE IS NEARBY...SEEK SAFETY IN A DITCH OR LOW SPOT.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Feb 10, 10:29 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Colorado, Jackson, Wharton | 96 min |
| Feb 10, 11:20 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Austin, Fort Bend, Waller | 60 min |
| Feb 10, 11:26 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazoria, Fort Bend, Harris | 64 min |
| Feb 10, 11:26 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Galveston | 64 min |
| Feb 10, 11:42 AM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris, Montgomery | 73 min |
| Feb 10, 11:48 AM CST | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Brazoria, Fort Bend, Harris | 3 hr |
| Feb 10, 11:51 AM CST | Tornado Warning | HGX | Fort Bend, Harris | 64 min |
| Feb 10, 12:26 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazoria, Chambers, Galveston | 64 min |
| Feb 10, 12:26 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Liberty | 64 min |
| Feb 10, 12:31 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | San Jacinto | 94 min |
| Feb 10, 12:49 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Liberty, Polk | 71 min |
| Feb 10, 1:05 PM CST | Tornado Warning | HGX | Chambers, Harris, Liberty | 65 min |
| Feb 10, 1:12 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Trinity | 63 min |
| Feb 10, 1:30 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazoria, Galveston | 65 min |
| Feb 10, 1:44 PM CST | Tornado Warning | HGX | Galveston | 46 min |
| Feb 10, 2:15 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Chambers | 30 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.