Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 30, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Aug 3, 1998, 6:42 PM CDT for Austin County, Colorado County, Wharton County, Texas. It was in force for 63 min. 1 report 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
- Aug 3, 1998, 6:42 PM CDT (23:42 UTC)
- Expired
- Aug 3, 1998, 7:45 PM CDT
- In force
- 63 min
- Issued by
- NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Austin County, TX, Colorado County, TX, Wharton County, TX
The radar
The Houston radar (KHGX), 123 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:45 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 3, 7:19 PM CDT | Thunderstorm Wind | East Bernard, TX | Large limbs blown down. |
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 nearest sounding before it
Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 11.7 hours before the alert went out and 229 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
- 1339 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -102 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 999 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 18 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -67 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -28 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
744 WFUS1 KHOU 032340 RRA TORHOU TXC015-089-481-040040- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 642 PM CDT MON AUG 3 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... SOUTHERN AUSTIN COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS COLORADO COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS NORTHERN WHARTON COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS * UNTIL 745 PM CDT * AT 637 PM CDT... RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM 11 MILES NORTH OF EAST BERNARD MOVING SOUTHWEST AT 15 MPH. THIS STORM HAS KNOCKED DOWN POWER POLES IN BROOKSHIRE IN SOUTHERN WALLER COUNTY. * THIS TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR... EAST BERNARD BY 710 PM CDT THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IN A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
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 Aug 3, 2:20 PM CDT, 4 hours 22 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Aug 3, 2:20 PM CDT, 4 hours 22 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 220 PM CDT MON AUG 3 1998 MODELS SHOWING A GRADUAL SLGT INCR IN MOISTURE WITH SLGT H5 HEIGHT FALLS...MOSTLY 4TH PERIOD. THERE WAS ALSO A HINT OF SOME TROFFING AT THE SFC TUE AND WED OVR NRN ZONES. GIVEN THESE FACTORS...WOULD HAVE A CHC POP IN EVERYWHERE FOR DIURNAL CONVECTION BOTH DAYS (AFTN AND EVENING INLAND ZONES...NO TIMING COAST). MOS TEMPS APPEAR TOO LOW DRG THE DAY. THE FIRST CLUE IS THAT IT DOESNT APPEAR TO BE PICKING UP ON TDAS HEAT...ONLY FCSTG 96 AT IAH AT 21Z. I SUSPECT ITLL BE CLOSER TO THE CENTURY MARK. WILL BE HIKING THIS UP A TAD...ESPECIALLY TUE. AGAIN...THE BEST HEIGHT FALLS ARE WED. CLDS MAY PLAY A ROLE...BUT DON'T THINK ENOUGH TO KEEP THINGS AS "COOL" AS MOS WOULD INDICATE TUE. ALL CONTINUES QUIET WITH THE CWF. NO FLAGS. CONT EXCESSIVE HEAT ADVISORY FOR CONSISTENCY SAKE. THINK H.I. VALUES SHD BE IN THE 105 TO 110 RANGE TMRW. FCST... TNGT...FAIR. TUE...PARTLY SUNNY...HOT AND HUMID WITH WIDELY SCT AFTN AND EVENING RW/TRW. TUE NGT...PARTLY CLOUDY. WED...PARTLY CLOUDY...HOT AND HUMID WITH SCATTERED AFTN AND EVENING RW/TRW. PRELIMS... CLL A/B B/B 076/100 0n75/096 02-3 IAH A/B B/B 077/098 076/096 0214 GLS A/B B/B 081/091 081/091 -2-4 46/RDH
The office that day
Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aug 3, 4:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris, Montgomery | 63 min |
| Aug 3, 5:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris | 59 min |
| Aug 3, 5:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Liberty | 63 min |
| Aug 3, 5:42 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Jackson | 63 min |
| Aug 3, 5:50 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Fort Bend, Waller | 60 min |
| Aug 3, 6:08 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Fort Bend, Harris | 62 min |
| Aug 3, 6:25 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Austin | 60 min |
| Aug 3, 6:31 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Houston, Trinity | 64 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.