Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2004

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

May 1, 2004Harris County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at May 1, 2004, 8:50 AM CDT for Harris County, Texas. It was in force for 40 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 1, 2004, 8:50 AM CDT (13:50 UTC)
Expired
May 1, 2004, 9:30 AM CDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Harris County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 52 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 13:54 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 watch it was issued in

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

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
May 1, 3:50 AM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 1.8 hours before the alert went out and 200 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 2004-05-01Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 326 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 2004-05-01The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 153 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
326 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-239 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
978 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
153 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
263 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
9.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KHGX 011350
TORHOU
TXC201-011430-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
848 AM CDT SAT MAY 1 2004

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LEAGUE CITY HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  HARRIS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS

* UNTIL 930 AM CDT

* AT 845 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 6 MILES
  SOUTHWEST OF JERSEY VILLAGE...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE HOOKS AIRPORT...
  BUSH-INTERCONTINENTAL AIRPORT...TOMBALL...SPRING VALLEY...SPRING...
  SHELDON...KINGWOOD...JACINTO CITY...HUMBLE...HOUSTON...HIGHLANDS...
  HEDWIG VILLAGE...GALENA PARK...CROSBY...CLOVERLEAF...CHANNELVIEW...
  BAYTOWN...BARRETT AND ALDINE.

THE PUBLIC REPORTED A POSSIBLE TORNADO NEAR TOMBALL.

RADAR INDICATED A STRONGER STORM DEVELOPING NEAR JERSEY 
VILLAGE...WITH JERSEY VILLAGE AND ALDINE IN THE PATH.

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.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 700 AM CDT
SATURDAY MORNING FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS.

LAT...LON 2983 9494 2969 9496 2969 9514 2979 9571
          3008 9570 3015 9557 3002 9527 3014 9513

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 1, 4:38 AM CDTTornado WarningHGXLiberty52 min
May 1, 5:17 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXMontgomery43 min
May 1, 5:30 AM CDTTornado WarningHGXLiberty45 min
May 1, 8:43 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXHarris, Montgomery, Polk, San Jacinto107 min
May 1, 9:10 AM CDTSpecial Marine WarningHGX95 min
May 1, 9:10 AM CDTSpecial Marine WarningHGX95 min
May 1, 10:20 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXChambers, Liberty55 min
May 1, 10:49 AM CDTSpecial Marine WarningHGX86 min
May 1, 11:22 AM CDTSpecial Marine WarningHGX113 min
May 1, 11:41 AM CDTTornado WarningHGXGalveston34 min
May 1, 11:44 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXBrazoria, Galveston2 hr
May 1, 11:58 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXFort Bend, Harris, Liberty2 hr
May 1, 12:03 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXPolk, San Jacinto4 hr
May 1, 12:16 PM CDTSpecial Marine WarningHGX59 min
May 1, 1:20 PM CDTSpecial Marine WarningHGX40 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 2004Every tornado warning in 2004Tornadoes in 2004

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.