Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 38, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Sep 10, 1998, 8:02 PM CDT for Brazoria County, Galveston 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
- Sep 10, 1998, 8:02 PM CDT (01:02 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 10, 1998, 9:05 PM CDT
- In force
- 63 min
- Issued by
- NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
Counties Brazoria County, TX, Galveston County, TX
The radar
The Houston radar (KHGX), 27 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:58 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 10, 8:09 PM CDT | Tornado F0 | Galveston, TX | Brief tornado touchdown on the west end of Galveston Island. House sustained structural damage. |
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
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 1.0 hours before the alert went out and 210 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
- 26 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -67 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 452 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 17 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 273 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 445 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KHOU 110102 RRA TORHOU TXC039-167-110205- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 802 PM CDT THU SEP 10 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... SOUTHERN BRAZORIA COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS GALVESTON COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS * UNTIL 905 PM CDT * AT 800 PM CDT... WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO 8 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF JAMAICA BEACH... MOVING NORTHWEST AT 35 MPH. * THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO PASS NEAR... THE WEST END OF GALVESTON ISLAND AND THE MUSTANG BAYOU AREA IF YOU ARE IN THESE AREAS... SEEK SAFETY IN A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM STAY 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 Sep 10, 2:45 PM CDT, 5 hours 17 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 10, 2:45 PM CDT, 5 hours 17 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
245 PM CDT THU SEP 10 1998
DUE TO THE UNCERTATINTY WITH ALL THE GUIDANCE WITH TS FRANCES...WILL
OPT FOR ONLY A FEW CHANGES FROM THE CURRENT TREND OF HIGH POPS/WINDS.
SATELLITE IMAGERY SO FAR THIS AFTN INDICATING THAT FRANCES IS START-
ING TO LOOK A BIT MORE ORGANIZED. HOWEVER...THE STORM DOES NOT SEEM
TO WANT TO GO ANYWHERE FAST AND SO WE SHOULD CONTINUE WITH A PERSIS-
TENT NE/ELY FLOW THROUGH AT LEAST THE NEXT 24-36H. THIS WILL IN TURN
CONTINUE TO BRING MOISTURE/PCPN ASHORE OF SE TX. THUS WOULD LIKE TO
RE-ISSUE AND EXPAND THE FFA TO INCLUDE ALL OF SE TX FOR TONIGHT THRU
FRIDAY. GIVEN THE EXTENSIVE (AND CONTINUING) CLOUD COVER WOULD ALSO
LIKE TO GO WITH SLIGHTLY LOWER DAYTIME TEMPS. COASTAL FLOOD PROBLEM
DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE GOING AWAY QUICKLY EITHER. WOULD LIKE TO DROP
WIND ADVZY THIS PCKG.
PLEASE NOTE - SOME CHANGES MAY BE IN STORE DEPENDING UPON CONFERENCE
CALL RESULTS!
41
PRELIMS...
SKY TEMPS POPS WINDS
CLL E/E E/E 76/85 76/90 *865 15G20/15-20/15-20/15-20 FFA
NE E/E E/E 76/85 76/90 *866 15G20/15-20/15-20/15-20 FFA
IAH C/C C/C 76/84 76/88 **76 15G25/15G25/15G25/15-20 FFA
GLS C/C C/C 78/83 78/86 **87 25G35/20G30/20G30/20G25 FFAIn the hours before
Special weather statement, Sep 10, 5:25 PM CDT, 2 hours 37 minutes before
TXZ213-214-235>238-102330- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 525 PM CDT THU SEP 10 1998 ...VERY HIGH TIDES EXPECTED THIS EVENING... RECENT TRENDS AT TIDE GAUGES ALONG THE UPPER TEXAS COAST INDICATE THAT GALVESTON BEACH FRONT TIDES WILL REACH BETWEEN 5 TO 6 FEET ABOVE THE PREDICTED LEVEL THIS EVENING. HIGH TIDE AT PLEASURE PIER WILL OCCUR AT 829 PM. WATER LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO REACH BETWEEN 7 AND 8 FEET AT THIS HIGH TIDE. IN ADDITION TO THE HIGH TIDE...EXPECT VERY STRONG WIND GUSTS AS SQUALLS CONTINUE TO PUSH ONSHORE. AT 5 PM...A 55 MPH WIND GUST WAS REPORTED AT HIGH ISLAND. SIMILAR OR SLIGHTLY HIGHER LEVELS ARE EXPECTED DURING THE FOLLOWING HIGH TIDE AT 637 AM...EARLY FRIDAY MORNING.
Special weather statement, Sep 10, 5:25 PM CDT, 2 hours 37 minutes before
TXZ213-214-235>238-102330- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 525 PM CDT THU SEP 10 1998 ...VERY HIGH TIDES EXPECTED THIS EVENING... RECENT TRENDS AT TIDE GAUGES ALONG THE UPPER TEXAS COAST INDICATE THAT GALVESTON BEACH FRONT TIDES WILL REACH BETWEEN 5 TO 6 FEET ABOVE THE PREDICTED LEVEL THIS EVENING. HIGH TIDE AT PLEASURE PIER WILL OCCUR AT 829 PM. WATER LEVELS ARE EXPECTED TO REACH BETWEEN 7 AND 8 FEET AT THIS HIGH TIDE. IN ADDITION TO THE HIGH TIDE...EXPECT VERY STRONG WIND GUSTS AS SQUALLS CONTINUE TO PUSH ONSHORE. AT 5 PM...A 55 MPH WIND GUST WAS REPORTED AT HIGH ISLAND. SIMILAR OR SLIGHTLY HIGHER LEVELS ARE EXPECTED DURING THE FOLLOWING HIGH TIDE AT 637 AM...EARLY FRIDAY MORNING.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 10, 7:13 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Galveston | 4 hr |
| Sep 10, 10:09 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Brazoria, Matagorda, Wharton | 4 hr |
| Sep 10, 10:09 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Fort Bend | 4 hr |
| Sep 11, 12:09 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Galveston | 4 hr |
| Sep 11, 1:29 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Galveston, Harris | 66 min |
| Sep 11, 2:03 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Brazoria, Fort Bend, Harris | 4 hr |
| Sep 11, 3:31 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Galveston | 64 min |
| Sep 11, 4:01 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Galveston | 4 hr |
| Sep 11, 4:31 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Harris | 64 min |
| Sep 11, 4:39 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Jackson | 4 hr |
| Sep 11, 5:32 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Grimes, Montgomery, Waller | 4 hr |
| Sep 11, 5:54 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Harris | 4 hr |
| Sep 11, 6:06 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Fort Bend | 64 min |
| Sep 11, 6:18 AM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Harris | 62 min |
| Sep 11, 7:49 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Brazoria, Galveston | 4 hr |
| Sep 11, 7:49 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Fort Bend | 4 hr |
| Sep 11, 8:58 AM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Harris | 6 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.