Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 45, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

September 16, 1998Brazoria County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Sep 16, 1998, 3:36 PM CDT for Brazoria County, Texas. It was in force for 59 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 16, 1998, 3:36 PM CDT (20:36 UTC)
Expired
Sep 16, 1998, 4:35 PM CDT
In force
59 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Brazoria County, TX

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 8.6 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 1998-09-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 299 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 1998-09-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -8 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
299 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-35 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
681 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
7 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-8 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
40 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.

860 
WFUS1 KHOU 162035 RRA
TORHOU
TXC039-162135-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
336 PM CDT WED SEP 16 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 435 PM CDT

* AT 330 PM...PUBLIC REPORTS INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR CR-797 AND
  FM-521 NEAR BRAZORIA...MOVING NORTHWEST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.
  OTHER PUBLIC REPORTS INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR FREEPORT MOVING
  NORTHWEST AT 20 MILES AN HOUR.

* THESE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO MOVE NEAR...JONES CREEK...SWEENY...
  AND OLD OCEAN.

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 Sep 16, 2:20 PM CDT, 1 hour 16 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 16, 2:20 PM CDT, 1 hour 16 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
220 PM CDT WED SEP 16 1998

ALTHOUGH MODELS HAVE BEEN CONSISTENT WITH DRYING AIRMASS OVR
FA...THIS HAS BEEN VERY SLOW TO OCCUR. SOME DRYING HAS OCCURRED OVER
EXT SE TX. THIS IS EVIDENT IN WV LOOP AND LCH 12Z SOUNDING. BELIEVE
E ZONES OF FA WILL HAVE A REDUCED CHC OF RAIN COMPARED TO W ZONES
FOR FIRST PART OF FORECAST PD. MODELS SHOW PW DECREASING TO LESS
THAN 2 INCHES BY TOMORROW ACROSS FA FOR THE FIRST TIME IN QUITE A
WHILE.

WILL CONTINUE FFA FOR SW PORTIONS OF FA TONIGHT DUE TO CURRENT
PROBLEMS AND LL CONVERGENCE ACROSS THIS AREA. ANY FURTHER RAINFALL
TONIGHT WILL CAUSE PROBLEMS DUE TO SATURATION OF GROUND AND FLOODED
CREEKS.

THERE IS A DECENT AMOUNT OF UNCERTAINTY AT END OF FP DUE TO
POTENTIAL DEVELOPMENT WITH THE AREA OF LOW PRESSURE IN THE GULF.
HOWEVER...FA LIKELY TO BE ON SUBSIDENT SIDE DURING LAST 24 HRS OF
THE FORECAST PD...SO WILL INCLUDE SCT POPS FOR AFT HEATING INDUCED
SHWRS AND TSTMS AND CONTINUING EVENING ACTIVITY.

WILL CONTINUE COASTAL FLOOD WATCH AS LEVELS REMAIN CLOSE TO 2 FEET
ABOVE PREDICTED HEIGHTS AND EASTERLY FLOW WILL CONTINUE WITH
POSSIBLE INCREASE DURING 24-36 HR TIME FRAME IF TROPICAL WV
DEVELOPS.  GIVEN PROGGED SFC PRESSURE PATN...FLOW LIKELY TO BECOME
NE ALONG TX COAST WHICH WILL NOT ALLOW FOR ANY IMPROVEMENT IN TIDE
LEVELS.

PRELIMS...
IAH C/E B/B 75/89/74/90 3323

CLL C/E B/B 75/88/73/91 4323

GLS E/B B/B 80/88/78/88 3223

SW  C/E B/B 76/88/76/90 5323 FFA TONIGHT
(WHARTON,JACKSON,MATAGORDA,COLORADO,AUSTIN)

33

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 15, 7:14 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXAustin, Colorado, Wharton3 hr
Sep 15, 10:03 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXWharton4 hr
Sep 16, 12:35 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXBrazoria2 hr
Sep 16, 1:40 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXFort Bend, Harris2 hr
Sep 16, 9:24 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXJackson3 hr
Sep 16, 12:24 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXJackson3 hr
Sep 16, 3:30 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXJackson3 hr
Sep 16, 6:06 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXJackson114 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.