Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 1999

Tornado Warning 52, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

May 30, 1999Fort Bend County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at May 30, 1999, 6:02 PM CDT for Fort Bend County, Texas. It was in force for 63 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
May 30, 1999, 6:02 PM CDT (23:02 UTC)
Expired
May 30, 1999, 7:05 PM CDT
In force
63 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Fort Bend County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 67 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:03 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 30, 6:30 PM CDTTornado F1Fairchilds, TXTornado along FM 361 near Fairchilds about 2 miles west of intersection of FM 1994 and FM 1852. Power lines and power poles downed, barn damaged and trees uprooted.
May 30, 6:52 PM CDTHail 0.75Guy, TX

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

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 11.0 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 1999-05-30Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3171 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 1999-05-30The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 64 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
3171 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
482 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
64 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
141 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.1
Supercell composite
6.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
TTAA00 KHOU 302302 RRA
TORHOU
TXC157-310005-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
602 PM CDT SUN MAY 30 1999

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  FORT BEND COUNTY IN SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS

* UNTIL 705 PM CDT

* AT 600 PM... WEATHER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM 7
  MILES SOUTHEAST OF RICHMOND...MOVING SOUTHEAST AT 10 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
  THOMPSONS AT 615 PM
  JULIFF AT 625 PM

IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SAFETY IN A NEARBY REINFORCED
BUILDING.  AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK REFUGE IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR
LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

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 May 30, 2:45 PM CDT, 3 hours 17 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, May 30, 2:45 PM CDT, 3 hours 17 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
245 PM CDT SUN MAY 30 1999

LAST GASP OF SHRA/TSRA SHD DIE A DIURNAL DEATH THIS EVENING WITH
EXITING VORT ENERGY AND LOSS OF SFC HEATING. WILL TAKE A LOOK AT RADAR
PRIOR TO PRESS TIME TO BETTER REFINE WHERE MENTION IS NEEDED EARLY
IN FIRST PERIOD. MOS HAS BEEN RUNNING WARM LATELY ON NIGHTTIME MINS.
WILL LOWER VALUES JUST A HAIR.

FOR MON...WAS ON THE FENCE AS TO WHAT TO DO REGARDING MENTION OF
PSBL ISOLD CONVECTION. ETA PAINTS A DECENT INSTAB AXIS ACRS AREA.
BEST MOISTURE NE HALF. NOTICED SWODY2...IT HAS US IN A GEN OUTLOOK.
WILL GO AHEAD AND MENTION ISOLD ACTIVITY FOR NE ZONES AND MAYBE SOME
ERN COASTAL ZONES. THANKS FOR THE COORD FTW AND SHV.

OTRW...H5 RDG IS IN CONTROL FOR MUCH OF THE WEEK. PW VALUES
HOVERING AROUND 1.5 INCHES THRU 48 HRS. MOISTURE IS THERE...BUT
DONT SEE ANY S/W ACTION OR SFC FEATURES THAT WOULD INDICATE A NEED
TO MENTION PRECIP. ISOLD POTENTIAL ALG SEABREEZE FNT OR ANY LEFTOVER
CONVECTIVE BOUNDARIES CAN BE HANDLED ON A DAY TO DAY BASIS.
GENERALLY THO...A WARM AND HUMID PERIOD THROUGH MID TO LATE WEEK.
DAYTIME TEMPS AT OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE MOS FCSTS.

ALLS QUIET IN THE MARINE AREA. NO FLAGS THIS PKG.

.HGX...NONE.

PRELIMS...
CLL BB 071/095 072/095 072 -00
IAH BB 072/095 073/095 073 -00
GLS BB 075/086 075/086 075 010

46/43

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 30, 3:18 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHarris42 min
May 30, 3:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazoria, Fort Bend46 min
May 30, 4:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazoria, Fort Bend33 min
May 30, 4:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXLiberty35 min
May 30, 4:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHarris54 min
May 30, 4:58 PM CDTTornado WarningHGXFort Bend62 min
May 30, 5:09 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazoria51 min
May 30, 5:48 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXFort Bend117 min
May 30, 6:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXAustin, Waller44 min
May 30, 6:50 PM CDTTornado WarningHGXColorado50 min

Nearby

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