Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2000

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 3, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

February 23, 2000Matagorda County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Feb 23, 2000, 6:44 AM CST for Matagorda County, Texas. It was in force for 46 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
Feb 23, 2000, 6:44 AM CST (12:44 UTC)
Expired
Feb 23, 2000, 7:30 AM CST
In force
46 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Matagorda County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 118 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 12:44 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 0.7 hours before the alert went out and 176 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 2000-02-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 751 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 2000-02-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 49 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
751 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-28 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
680 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
49 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
138 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.2
Supercell composite
1.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS54 KHGX 231245
SVRHOU
TXC321-231330-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
644 AM CST WED FEB 23 2000

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  MATAGORDA COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS

* UNTIL 730 AM CST

* AT 634 AM CST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 3
  MILES SOUTHWEST OF BAY CITY...MOVING EAST AT 20 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM INCLUDE...  
  SOUTH BAY CITY
  VAN VLECK

MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR
BUSINESS.

PLEASE REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE COUNTY SHERIFF...LOCAL POLICE...
OR DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY. THEY WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm 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 severe thunderstorm warning went out at Feb 23, 3:00 AM CST, 3 hours 44 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Feb 23, 3:00 AM CST, 3 hours 44 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
3 AM CST WED FEB 23 2000

THE LINE OF SH/TSRAS APPEARS TO HAVE LOST ITS PUNCH THIS MORNING AS
THE SHORTWAVE WHICH HELPED TO INTENSIFY THE STORMS BEGINS TO OUTRUN
THE LINE. ALL WATCHES/WARNINGS HAVE BEEN CLEARED FOR SE TX.

THEREFORE THE FORECAST PROBLEM(S) OF THE DAY THEN BECOMES WHAT WILL
HAPPEN WITH THIS BOUNDARY AND HOW WILL IT AFFECT CLOUDS/POPS TODAY.
AS PER THE MODELS...CLOUDS/PCPN SHOULD STICK AROUND AS A WEAK ISEN-
TROPIC LIFT TYPE SCENARIO DEVELOPS ON THE BACK SIDE OF THE BOUNDARY
AS DAYTIME HEATING/TROPICAL LIKE AIRMASS AHEAD OF IT WILL ALLOW FOR
DECENT CU COVERAGE. ALSO AHEAD OF THIS "FRONT"...THE POSSIBILITY OF
LEFTOVER OUTFLOWS IN THE VERY MOIST/MARGINALLY UNSTABLE AIRMASS MAY
ALLOW FOR ISOLATED TSRAS GIVEN ENOUGH HEATING AND THE LIKELIHOOD OF
OTHER SHORTWAVES IN FLOW ALOFT(ALBEIT SLIM). THUS WILL GO AHEAD AND
BLANKET THE FA WITH AT LEAST CHC POPS (30-40) DESPITE THE DIFFERING
REASONS. RAIN CHANCES TO DROP TONIGHT AS THE BOUNDARY MOVES BACK TO
THE NORTH AND THE GRADIENT RELAXES. PATCHY FOG PROBABLY NOT TOO BAD
A BET GIVEN THE EXPECTED RAINS TODAY/DECREASING WINDS. ABOVE NORMAL
MAX TEMPS TO RETURN ON THURSDAY.

LOOKING AHEAD, THE NEXT PACIFIC SYSTEM (IN A SEEMINGLY LONG LINE OF
THEM) WILL BEGIN AFFECTING OUR AREA (AS FAR AS POPS) BY LATE FRIDAY
AND INTO SATURDAY. LIKE THIS LAST ONE...THE NEXT SYSTEM WILL LIKELY
JUST GLANCE SE TX AS THE BEST DYNAMICS ARE PROGGED TO COME TOGETHER
FURTHER NORTH OF THE AREA.  41/46/48

.HGX...NONE

PRELIMS...
CLL EB 074/058 079/062 079 300
IAH EB 075/061 077/064 078 400
GLS EB 072/0&64 073/065 073 300

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Feb 23, 2:30 AM CST, 4 hours 14 minutes before
TXZ176-195>198-231000-

SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
230 AM CST WED FEB 23 2000

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH WILL EXPIRE...

THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH WHICH WAS IN EFFECT UNTIL 300 AM WILL
BE ALLOWED TO EXPIRE. THE WATCH WAS POSTED FOR GRIMES...WASHINGTON
...BURLESON...BRAZOS AND MADISON COUNTIES.

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL AFFECT SOUTHEAST TEXAS FOR THE
NEXT FEW HOURS...BUT THE THREAT OF DAMAGING WINDS AND LARGE HAIL HAS
ENDED IN THE WATCH AREA.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Feb 22, 11:21 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBurleson39 min
Feb 23, 6:59 AM CSTTornado WarningHGXMatagorda31 min
Feb 23, 7:24 AM CSTTornado WarningHGXBrazoria36 min
Feb 23, 7:54 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazoria51 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 2000Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2000

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.