Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 1998

Tornado Watch 12

January 11, 199834 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jan 11, 1998, 4:45 PM CST for 34 counties in Texas. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jan 11, 1998, 4:45 PM CST (22:45 UTC)
Expired: Jan 11, 1998, 10:00 PM CST
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

All 34 counties

Anderson County, TX, Angelina County, TX, Austin County, TX, Bastrop County, TX, Brazos County, TX, Burleson County, TX, Cherokee County, TX, Colorado County, TX, DeWitt County, TX, Fayette County, TX, Goliad County, TX, Gregg County, TX, Grimes County, TX, Harrison County, TX, Houston County, TX, Lavaca County, TX, Lee County, TX, Leon County, TX, Madison County, TX, Marion County, TX, Milam County, TX, Montgomery County, TX, Nacogdoches County, TX, Panola County, TX, Polk County, TX, Robertson County, TX, Rusk County, TX, San Augustine County, TX, San Jacinto County, TX, Shelby County, TX, Trinity County, TX, Walker County, TX, Waller County, TX, Washington County, TX

The radar

The Ft Hood radar (KGRK), 129 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:46 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.

Warnings issued inside it

14 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 11, 5:03 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EWX	Lee	57 min
Jan 11, 5:12 PM CST	Tornado Warning	EWX	Lee	63 min
Jan 11, 5:58 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Gregg	47 min
Jan 11, 6:04 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Harrison, Marion	56 min
Jan 11, 6:31 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Brazos, Burleson	59 min
Jan 11, 6:36 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Washington	69 min
Jan 11, 6:45 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Rusk	45 min
Jan 11, 7:01 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Grimes	59 min
Jan 11, 7:29 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	SHV	Harrison, Panola	61 min
Jan 11, 7:42 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Montgomery	48 min
Jan 11, 8:31 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Montgomery	34 min
Jan 11, 9:23 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	San Jacinto	27 min
Jan 11, 9:38 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	Polk	57 min
Jan 11, 9:38 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	Polk	67 min

The nearest sounding before it

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 12:00Z, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 252 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 458 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 62 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 474 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 533 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

629 
WWUS9 KMKC 112203
SEL2  
MKC WW 112203
TXZ000-120400-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 12
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
403 PM CST SUN JAN 11 1998

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   CENTRAL AND EASTERN TEXAS                              

EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 445 PM UNTIL 1000
PM CST.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 70 STATUTE MILES NORTH AND
SOUTH OF A LINE FROM 90 MILES SOUTHWEST OF COLLEGE STATION TEXAS TO
50 MILES EAST SOUTHEAST OF LONGVIEW TEXAS.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 11...

DISCUSSION...thunderstorms developing in warm sector across central
tx as s/wv trof moves across n tx.  airmass moderately unstable
with mucapes to 2000 j/kg.  wind profiles favorable for supercells
and storms expected to continue increasing and developing eastward
with isolated tornadoes.


AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 480. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 24035.


...HALES

304,0972 330,0935 310,0935 283,0972

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 11, 1:15 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Anderson, Bell, Bosque, Bowie, Camp, Cass and 33 more	6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Texas, 1998 Every tornado watch 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.