Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 36, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

September 10, 1998Brazoria County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Sep 10, 1998, 9:16 AM CDT for Brazoria County, Texas. It was in force for 44 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
Sep 10, 1998, 9:16 AM CDT (14:16 UTC)
Expired
Sep 10, 1998, 10:00 AM CDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Brazoria County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 48 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:20 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 12:00Z, 2.3 hours before the alert went out and 240 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 12:00Z on 1998-09-10Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 4 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 1998-09-10The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 193 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
4 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-1 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
517 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
13 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
193 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
234 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 101415 RRA
TORHOU
TXC039-101500-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
916 AM CDT THU SEP 10 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN BRAZORIA COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS

* UNTIL 1000 AM CDT

* AT 912 AM CDT...WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A DEVELOPING TORNADO 21
  MILES SOUTH OF ANGLETON OR 7 MILES SOUTH OF JONES CREEK MOVING
  WEST AT 30 MPH.

* THE TORNADO WILL AFFECT THE AREA AROUND THE SAN BERNARD WILDLIFE
REFUGE.

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.

ZEITLER

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 Sep 10, 2:55 AM CDT, 6 hours 21 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 10, 2:55 AM CDT, 6 hours 21 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
255 AM CDT THU SEP 10 1998

THE MAIN WEATHER FEATURE AFFECTING SETX REMAINS TROPICAL STORM
FRANCES.  THE AVN AND ETA ARE VERY SIMILAR IN THEIR HANDLING OF THE
STORM THROUGH 06Z FRIDAY...AND WERE JUST A BIT FURTHER TO THE NORTH
THAN THE HURRICANE CENTER/S STORM FORECAST TRACK.  THE FUTURE TRACK
OF THE STORM IS STILL UNCERTAIN...BUT AS FAR AS FOR ITS EFFECTS ON
SETX AND THE UPPER TX COAST...WILL GO WITH AN AVN/ETA BLEND.
ACCORDING TO THE AVN PW FORECAST...THE BEST CHANCES FOR RAINFALL
OVER THE INLAND COUNTIES WILL BEGIN BY THIS EVENING AND EXTEND INTO
SATURDAY.

RELATED EFFECTS OF THE STORM TO CONSIDER ARE GUSTY WINDS OVER THE
INLAND COUNTIES NOT UNDER THE TROPICAL STORM WARNING.  BOTH HARRIS
AND JACKSON COUNTIES ARE PART OF THE WARNING AREA ALONG WITH THE
COASTAL COUTNIES.  FOR LIBERTY...FORT BEND...AND WHARTON COUNTIES
WILL GO WITH A WIND ADVISORY FOR WIND SPEEDS GUSTING IN THE 20 TO 30
MPH RANGE (WILL ISSUE THE NPW SOON).  FURTHER INLAND CAUTION IS
ADVISED ON AREA LAKES FOR WIND SPEEDS OF 15 TO 25 MPH AND GUSTY...
THOUGH THIS AREA WILL NEED TO BE RECHECKED ON THE MORNING UPDATE AT
9 AM.

ALONG THE COAST AND OVER THE NEXT TIER OF COUNTIES JUST INLAND THE
WINDS HAVE BEEN GUSTING TONIGHT AND THE TIDE CONTINUE TO RISE IN
SOME LOCATIONS.  AT 2 AM AT PLEASURE PIER WIND SPEEDS WERE 35G41
KNOTS WITH THE TIDE AT 6 FEET AND RISING (THE TIDE WAS 4.6 ABOVE
NORMAL).  ALSO AT 2 AM AT EAGLE POINT THE WIND WAS 28G36 KNOTS AND
THE TIDE WAS 4.6 FEET.  PROBLEMS WITH COASTAL FLOODING CONTINUED AT
THE COAST...AND WILL UPDATE THE NUMBERS ON THE NEXT TROPICAL STORM
LOCAL STATEMENT.

TOUGH FORECAST FOR POPS AND TEMPERATURES THIS PERIOD...LARGELY
BECAUSE OF THE STILL UNCERTAIN NATURE OF THE TRACK OF FRANCES.
STICKING TO THE AVN GUIDANCE WILL INCREASE POPS TONIGHT...FRIDAY...
AND FRIDAY NIGHT OVER THE INLAND AREAS.  THE FWC LOOKS TO BE
REFLECTING THE CLOUD COVER ON TEMPERATURES...BUT MAY BE TOO LOW
OVERALL IN THE HIGHS.  THERE A LACK OF CLOUD COVER MAY HELP HIGHS
REACH INTO THE LOWER 90S TODAY.  PL/40

PRELIMS...
         SKY       TEMPS     POPS          WINDS
CLL  E/E E/E  91/73 90/73    4565  15-20/15-20/15-20/15-20
NE   E/E E/E  90/74 88/74    5566  15-20/15-20/15-20/15-20
IAH  E/W T/E  88/75 86/74    6775  15G25/15G25/15G25/15-20
GLS  T/W T/W  86/76 86/76    7887  20G30/20G30/20G30/15G25

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 10, 8:55 AM CDTTornado WarningHGXMatagorda35 min
Sep 10, 9:42 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXBrazoria, Matagorda3 hr
Sep 10, 5:51 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXBrazoria, Matagorda4 hr
Sep 10, 6:47 PM CDTTornado WarningHGXBrazoria58 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.