Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1998

Tornado Warning 46, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

October 4, 1998Harris County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Oct 4, 1998, 1:59 PM CDT for Harris County, Texas. It was in force for 31 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
Oct 4, 1998, 1:59 PM CDT (18:59 UTC)
Expired
Oct 4, 1998, 2:30 PM CDT
In force
31 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Harris County, TX

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 7.0 hours before the alert went out and 213 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 1998-10-04Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2319 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 1998-10-04The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 68 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
2319 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-23 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
724 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
10 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
68 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
77 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.

945 
WFUS1 KHOU 041858 RRA
TORHOU
TXC201-041930-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
159 PM CDT SUN OCT 4 1998

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 230 PM CDT

* AT 155 PM CDT... RADAR AND SPOTTER REPORTS INDICATED A TORNADIC
  THUNDERSTORM NEAR INTERCONTINENTAL AIRPORT OR ABOUT 17 MILES NORTH
  OF DOWNTOWN HOUSTON AND MOVING NORTH AT 15 MPH.

* THIS TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  KINGWOOD BY 215 PM CDT

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 Oct 4, 9:32 AM CDT, 4 hours 27 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 4, 9:32 AM CDT, 4 hours 27 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
932 AM CDT SUN OCT 4 1998

MRNG ANALYSIS SHOWS SUTTLE S/W TREKING ACRS S CNTRL TX WITH FAIRLY
COOL TMPS ALOFT.   S/W ENERGY IS INTERACTING WITH AN UNCAPPED...
VERY MOIST (ARND 2.0 INCH PWS) AND MODERATELY UNSTABLE (-9 LIS) SE
TX AIRMASS TO PRODUCE SCT SHWRS/TSTMS ACRS MAINLY THE COASTAL AND
CNTRL ZONES ATTM.  A MODIFIED MEAN LIFT ON THE 12Z CRP & LCH
SOUNDINGS INDICATE FA SHUD SEE CAPES IN THE 2600-3600 RANGE BY THIS
AFTN WHILE WEAK S/W ENERGY CONTS TO PUSH EWD DURING PEAK HTG.  ALTHO
LTL SFC FOCUS IS NOTED...CRNT CONVECTIVE ACTIVITY WILL LIKELY LEAVE
SUTTLE BNDRYS FOR PSBL FOCUS LATER THIS AFTN.  SUSPECT FA IS JUST TO
MOIST FOR THREAT OF SVR BUT WOULD NOT RULE OUT AN ISOLATED DOWNBURST
DURING PEAK HTG.  OTHERWISE...BEST CHC OF RAIN CONTS TO BE OVR ERN
PORTIONS OF FA AND ALNG THE COAST.  CRNT FCST HAS GOOD HANDLE ON
SITUATION.  NO CHANGES NEEDED ATTM.  39

PRELIMS...

CLL B/E U/B 091/073 092/072  3222

2ND PERIOD MAINLY EVENING...3RD PERIOD MOSTLY SUNNY WITH MAINLY AFTERNOON
AND EVENING SHRA/TSRA

IAH B/E B/B 091/073 092/074  4222

GLS B/E B/B 089/079 089/079  5232

LIBERTY/SAN JAC/POLK B/E B/B 090/072 091/072 5222

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 4, 6:52 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXGalveston, Harris118 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.