Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 33, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

August 22, 1998Brazoria County, Fort Bend County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Aug 22, 1998, 4:08 AM CDT for Brazoria County, Fort Bend County, Texas. It was in force for 47 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
Aug 22, 1998, 4:08 AM CDT (09:08 UTC)
Expired
Aug 22, 1998, 4:55 AM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

Counties Brazoria County, TX, Fort Bend County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 53 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 09:12 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

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 00:00Z, 9.1 hours before the alert went out and 247 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 00:00Z on 1998-08-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 735 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Corpus Christi, TX at 00:00Z on 1998-08-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -5 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
735 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-14 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
743 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
8 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-5 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
20 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 220908 RRA
TORHOU
TXC039-157-220955-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
408 AM CDT SAT AUG 22 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  BRAZORIA COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS
  FORT BEND COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS

* UNTIL 455 AM CDT

* AT 405 AM... WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 3 MILES
  EAST OF ARCOLA...MOVING NORTHWEST AT 25 MPH.

* ARCOLA AND FRESNO ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO.

IF YOU ARE IN THESE AREAS... SEEK SAFETY IN A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM
AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

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 22, 2:45 AM CDT, 1 hour 23 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 22, 2:45 AM CDT, 1 hour 23 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
245 AM CDT SAT AUG 22 1998

ALL EYES THIS A.M. ON CHARLEY AS IT PUSHES TOWARDS THE TEXAS
COAST...WITH LANDFALL LOOKING LIKE IT WILL BE CLOSE TO PORT
ARANSAS.

FOR FORECAST TODAY...WOULD LIKE TO ADJUST CURRENT FFA SLIGHTLY
...TRIMING IT FROM THE NE AS CHARLEY MOVES NW INLAND. BELIEVE
FLASH FLOOD THREAT STILL EXISTS SOUTH AND WEST OF A GALVESTON TO
HOUSTON TO BELLVILLE LINE.  HEAVIEST RAINFALL WILL OCCUR
ACROSS IMMEDIATE COAST ALONG BRAZORIA...MATAGORDA...AND JACKSON
COUNTIES WHERE LOCALLY 5 INCHES IS POSSIBLE. THIS IS IN CLOSE
AGREEMENT WITH 94E. HGX 88D IS SHOWING HIGHEST RAINRATES TO BE NEAR
2 INCHES AN HOUR...SOUTH OF FREEPORT.

A FEW CELLS HAVE INDICATED TORNADIC POTENTIAL ACROSS CRP WARNING
AREA TONIGHT AS BANDS PUSH INLAND AND ENCOUNTER FRICTIONAL
CONVERGENCE ALONG COAST.  THEREFORE WOULD LIKE TO WORD ZONES
WITH POSSIBLE TORNADOES ONLY ALONG COAST SOUTH OF GALVESTON.
THIS THREAT SHOULD BE OVER BY LATE MORNING. APPEARS GREATEST THREATS
FOR FORECAST AREA WITH CHARLEY WILL BE SOME COASTAL FLOODING AND
HEAVY RAIN THIS MORNING. TIDE LEVELS AT HIGH TIDE EXPECTED TO
RUN BETWEEN 5 AND 7 FT.

MODELS INITIALIZED TOO FAR SOUTHWEST WITH CHARLEY...HAVE MADE SOME
ADJUSTMENTS TO GUID POPS. DO BELIEVE ATMOS WILL DRY ACROSS
FA SIGNIFICANTLY BY LATE THIS AFTERNOON.

33

SEE CURRENT TPC PRODUCTS AND HLSHOU FOR LATEST TS INFO...

CLL 90/75/93/75 C/E/B/B  6521
IAH 89/75/92/75 T/E/B/B  7421 FFA
GLS 87/79/90/78 TN/E/B/B 8321 FFA...WINDY...POSSIBLE TORNADOES
PSX 85/78/90/78 TN/E/B/B +321 FFA...WINDY...POSSIBLE TORNADOES

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 22, 7:44 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXBrazoria3 hr
Aug 22, 8:54 AM CDTTornado WarningHGXBrazoria36 min
Aug 22, 10:41 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXBrazoria3 hr

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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.