Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1998
Tornado Warning 51, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Oct 17, 1998, 4:27 PM CDT for Brazos County, Texas. It was in force for 58 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
- Oct 17, 1998, 4:27 PM CDT (21:27 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 17, 1998, 5:25 PM CDT
- In force
- 58 min
- Issued by
- NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Brazos County, TX
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 17, 4:40 PM CDT | Tornado F1 | College Station, TX | Utility poles downed and roof damage on the outskirts of Bryan College Station. |
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
Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 12:00Z, 9.5 hours before the alert went out and 259 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
- 1219 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -2 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 713 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 30 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 130 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 226 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 1.1
- Supercell composite
- 10.8
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 TTAA00 KHOU 172127 RRA TORHOU TXC041-172225- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 427 PM CDT SAT OCT 17 1998 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... BRAZOS COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS * UNTIL 525 PM CDT * AT 425 PM CDT... WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM ABOUT 5 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF COLLEGE STATION NEAR WELLBORN AND MOVING NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH. * THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO MOVE JUST SOUTH OF... COLLEGE STATION BY 440 PM THIS IS A DANGEROUS STORM SITUATION. ACT QUICKLY. IF YOU ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS TORNADO MOVE TO A PLACE OF SAFETY IN A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR POSSIBLE. AVOID WINDOWS. ABANDON CARS AND MOBILE HOMES FOR A REINFORCED BUILDING OR GET INTO A DITCH OR CULVERT.
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 17, 2:40 PM CDT, 1 hour 47 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Oct 17, 2:40 PM CDT, 1 hour 47 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
240 PM CDT SAT OCT 17 1998
A VERY COMPLEX AND TRICKY FCST THIS RUN. MDLS RMN IN FAIR AGREEMENT
WITH DRIVING UPR LOW OVR CNTRL PLAINS TOWARD GREAT LAKES REGION BY
MRNG AND SLWLY DRAGGING CF INTO NRN ZONES ERLY SUN AFTN. FNT LOOSES
ITS PUSH AS MID-UPR LVL FLOW GOES MAINLY ZONAL WITH FNT AND NEW UPR
LOW DVLPS OVR BAJA. FNT MAY SAG SLGTLY SWRD SUN NGT BUT SHUD RMN
FOCUS FOR TSTMS ALNG AND OUT AHEAD OF FNT WELL INTO MON. STILL
UNCERTAIN ABOUT TIMING OF FROPA OFF UPR COAST BUT AVN AND ETA DO
SUGGEST SOMETIME LATE MON AFTN. GOOD OVERRUNNING EVENT SETS UP
QUICKLY BEHIND FROPA ALL AREAS WITH MOIST SRLY FLOW AT 85OMB AND
PACIFIC MOIST SW FLOW AT 700MB. SERIES OF WEAK IMPULSES IN THE UPR
LVL JET WILL ENHANCE OVERRUNNING LIFT AND RESULT IN EMBEDDED TSTMS
AND THREAT OF LCLY HVY RAINS ACRS MUCH OF FA SUN NGT-MON. AT THIS
TIME...WILL PLAN ON FROPA WITH CLDS...OVERRUNNING RAINS AND COOLER
TMPS MOST AREAS BY MON AFTN. THIS PATTERN WILL LIKELY PERSIST TILL
BAJA LOW KICKS OUT SOMETIME MID WEEK.
HAVE ALLIGNED TOR WATCH AREA WITH SAME COUNTIES IN FLASH FLOOD WATCH
FOR TNGT. ADD MENTION OF PSBL SVR HERE TNGT. WILL HOLD OFF ON ANY
MENTION OF PSBL SVR ACRS REST OF FA FOR SUN AS MAIN UPR DYNAMICS
APPEARS TO PULL OFF TO NE.
CLL C/C C/C 70/78 64/76 8766 (TOR WATCH HERE TILL 8 PM TNGT)
(FLASH FLOOD WATCH TNGT-SUNDAY...BRAZOS, MADISON, GRIMES, BURLESON,
WASHINGTON, AUSTIN, COLORADO, WALLER)
IAH C/C C/C 74/83 65/78 7876 (LCLY HVY RAIN PSBL TNGT & SUNDAY)
SW E/C C/C 75/83 73/79 6776 (LCLY HVY RAIN PSBL SUNDAY)
(JACKSON,WHARTON2,MATAGORDA)
GLS E/C C/C 77/84 74/80 5676 (BRAZORIA, GALVESTON, CHAMBERS)
39/42In the hours before
Special weather statement, Oct 17, 2:28 PM CDT, 1 hour 59 minutes before
TXZ176-195>198-210>212-180125- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 228 PM CDT SAT OCT 17 1998 ...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR WESTERN PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS UNTIL 800 PM CDT... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR THE WESTERN PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS UNTIL 800 PM CDT. THE COUNTIES INCLUDED IN THIS TORNADO WATCH INCLUDE BRAZOS...BURLESON... GRIMES...MADISON...WASHINGTON...WALLER...AUSTIN...AND COLORADO. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY CONTINUE TO MOVE EASTWARD AND APPROACH THE COUNTIES IN THE TORNADO WATCH AREA. CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP AS THIS ACTIVITY MOVES TOWARD SOUTHEAST TEXAS...AND SOME OF THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING TORNADOES. AGAIN...A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE WESTERN PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS UNTIL 800 PM CDT. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER WEAT HER NEWS SOURCES FOR THE LATEST UPDATES CONCERNING THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.
Special weather statement, Oct 17, 2:28 PM CDT, 1 hour 59 minutes before
TXZ176-195>198-210>212-180125- SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 228 PM CDT SAT OCT 17 1998 ...TORNADO WATCH IN EFFECT FOR WESTERN PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS UNTIL 800 PM CDT... THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR THE WESTERN PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS UNTIL 800 PM CDT. THE COUNTIES INCLUDED IN THIS TORNADO WATCH INCLUDE BRAZOS...BURLESON... GRIMES...MADISON...WASHINGTON...WALLER...AUSTIN...AND COLORADO. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS IN THE TEXAS HILL COUNTRY CONTINUE TO MOVE EASTWARD AND APPROACH THE COUNTIES IN THE TORNADO WATCH AREA. CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP AS THIS ACTIVITY MOVES TOWARD SOUTHEAST TEXAS...AND SOME OF THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING TORNADOES. AGAIN...A TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED FOR THE WESTERN PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS UNTIL 800 PM CDT. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER WEAT HER NEWS SOURCES FOR THE LATEST UPDATES CONCERNING THIS DEVELOPING WEATHER SITUATION.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 17, 3:43 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Brazos, Burleson | 62 min |
| Oct 17, 5:03 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Grimes, Madison | 47 min |
| Oct 17, 5:40 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Brazos, Grimes, Madison | 3 hr |
| Oct 17, 5:57 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Madison | 43 min |
| Oct 17, 6:55 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Washington | 60 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.