Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 20, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

January 1, 1999Chambers County, Galveston County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Jan 1, 1999, 11:25 PM CST for Chambers County, Galveston County, Texas. It was in force for 90 min. 2 reports 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: Jan 1, 1999, 11:25 PM CST (05:25 UTC)
Expired: Jan 2, 1999, 12:55 AM CST
In force: 90 min
Issued by: NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area: Whole counties

Counties Chambers County, TX, Galveston County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 33 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:25 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
Jan 2, 12:20 AM CST	Tornado F1	Gilchrist, TX	The initial touchdown occurred just off Hwy 87 at the intersection of Car Street and Featherstone Street where it ripped off the roof of a dilapidated house. In addition, a motorized boat was tossed from this location and found approximately 150 to 200 feet (f
Jan 2, 12:26 AM CST	Tornado F0	Gilchrist, TX	The initial touchdown was near the beach where it partially destroyed a beach home on stilts and a moderate sized radio tower. The most significant damage occurred to a housewhere approximately 100 windows were blown out. In addition high winds rolled a motor

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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Jan 1, 11:00 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 5.4 hours before the alert went out and 164 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: 437 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 704 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 202 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 238 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.4
Supercell composite: 2.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

The text of this product is not in the archive. The NWS text archive before 2002 is incomplete.

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 Jan 1, 7:30 PM CST, 3 hours 55 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jan 1, 7:30 PM CST, 3 hours 55 minutes before

SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
730 PM CST FRI JAN 1 1999

NEW TORNADO WATCH HAS BEEN ISSUED BY SPC FOR ALL OF SE TX UNTIL 100
AM.  DEVELOPING SQUALL LINE TO OUR WEST IS MAKING PROGRESS THIS WAY...
AND IT LOOKS TO BE A BUSY EVENING/NIGHT.  PARAMETERS COMING TOGETHER
FOR A COMBINED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM AND FLASH FLOOD EVENT.

WHEN THE STORMS COME TO AN END TOMORROW...WELL BE DEALING WITH OUR
NEXT COLD WAVE AS STRONG NORTH AND NORTHWEST SURFACE WINDS BEHIND THIS
EMERGING BIG EASTERN U.S. STORM BRING COLDER AIR THIS WAY.

.HGX...TORNADO WATCH (WW2) IN EFFECT UNTIL 1 AM.
       FLASH FLOOD WATCH TONIGHT.
       SCA TONIGHT AND SAT.

PRELIMS...
CLL BU 050/052 028/048 025 910
IAH BU 062/063 030/050 027 920
GLS BU 066/066 041/050 035 920

42/44/31/45/32/47/36

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Jan 1, 6:53 PM CST, 4 hours 32 minutes before

GMZ330-335-350-355-370-375-TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-
226-227-235>238-020155-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
653 PM CST FRI JAN 1 1999

...TORNADO WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTHERN PORTIONS OF
SOUTHEAST TEXAS UNTIL 1000 PM CDT...

AT 650 PM CST NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
LINE OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS EXTENDED ALONG THE I-35
CORRIDOR FROM JUST EAST OF AUSTIN SOUTH TO SAN ANTONIO. THE LINE WAS
MOVING NORTHEAST AT 25 MPH AND WILL APPROACH THE EASTERN PORTIONS OF
SOUTHEAST TEXAS AFTER 715 PM. DAMAGING WINDS...FREQUENT LIGHTNING
AND LARGE WILL BE POSSIBLE AS THIS LINE MOVES THROUGH THE AREA.
THERE IS ALSO A THREAT OF TORNADOES AND A THREAT OF FLASH FLOODING. A
FLASH FLOOD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST TONIGHT.

PEOPLE ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS SHOULD CONTINUE TO MONITOR THE LATEST
WEATHER INFORMATION. STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...TV...OR YOUR
LOCAL NEW SOURCE FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND ADDITIONAL WATCHES AND
WARNINGS.

Special weather statement, Jan 1, 7:20 PM CST, 4 hours 5 minutes before

GMZ330-335-350-355-370-375-TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-
235>238-020700-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
720 PM CST FRI JAN 1 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A TORNADO WATCH FOR ALL OF
SOUTHEAST TEXAS UNTIL 1 AM SATURDAY MORNING.  COUNTIES INCLUDED IN
THE WATCH AREA ARE:  AUSTIN...BRAZORIA...BRAZOS...BURLESON...
CHAMBERS...COLORADO...FORT BEND...GALVESTON...GRIMES...HARRIS...
HOUSTON...JACKSON...LIBERTY...MADISON...MATAGORDA...MONTGOMERY...
POLK...SAN JACINTO...TRINITY...WALKER...WALLER...WASHINGTON...
WHARTON...AND THE ADJACENT COASTAL WATERS.

A SQUALL LINE HAS DEVELOPED IN CENTRAL TEXAS THIS EVENING AS A
STRONG UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE COLLIDES INTO WARM MOIST AIR.
UPPER LEVEL WINDS WILL BE SUPPORTIVE FOR TORNADO FORMATION AHEAD OF...
AND ALONG...THE LINE.  TORNADOES HAVE BEEN VERIFIED EARLIER THIS
AFTERNOON.  THE SQUALL LINE WILL MOVE WEST TO EAST ACROSS THE AREA
BRINGING A THREAT OF STRONG DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL IN
ADDITION TO TORNADOES.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE
WEATHER AND TORNADOES IN AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA.  PERSONS IN THOSE
AREAS SHOULD BE PREPARED TO TAKE SHELTER SHOULD A WARNING BE ISSUED.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO...COMMERCIAL TELEVISION OR RADIO
STATIONS...OR YOUR CABLE TELEVISION PROVIDER FOR LATER STATEMENTS
CONCERNING THIS POTENTIALLY DANGEROUS SEVERE WEATHER THREAT.

Special weather statement, Jan 1, 11:05 PM CST, 20 minutes before

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The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jan 1, 7:05 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Burleson	55 min
Jan 1, 7:41 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	Houston	59 min
Jan 1, 7:51 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Brazos	59 min
Jan 1, 8:37 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	Madison	48 min
Jan 1, 8:48 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Harris	42 min
Jan 1, 9:01 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Colorado	44 min
Jan 1, 9:12 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	Grimes, Washington	63 min
Jan 1, 9:15 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	Houston	65 min
Jan 1, 9:35 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Montgomery	65 min
Jan 1, 9:47 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Harris	63 min
Jan 1, 9:50 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	San Jacinto	65 min
Jan 1, 9:55 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Liberty	60 min
Jan 1, 10:10 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	Walker	65 min
Jan 1, 10:34 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Polk	61 min
Jan 1, 10:41 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Montgomery	64 min
Jan 1, 10:46 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Harris	64 min
Jan 1, 10:47 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Liberty	28 min
Jan 1, 10:47 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Liberty	58 min
Jan 1, 11:25 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Chambers	65 min
Jan 1, 11:49 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	Harris	61 min
Jan 1, 11:50 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	Chambers, Galveston	65 min
Jan 1, 11:54 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	Liberty	61 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 1999 Every tornado warning in 1999 Tornadoes in 1999

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.