Two early evening thunderstorms merged, became severe, and produced some wind damage.
Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS HGX wrote it up.
Two early evening thunderstorms merged, became severe, and produced some wind damage.
The local office's own words before the first event, 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 the first event at Aug 18, 3:10 PM CST, 2 hours 7 minutes earlier.
AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 410 PM CDT SAT AUG 18 2012 .DISCUSSION... SCATTERED CONVECTION HAS DEVELOPED ACROSS THE SOUTHERN HALF OF THE REGION TODAY WITH BETTER COVERAGE THAN WE SAW YESTERDAY AFTERNOON. MOST OF THE ACTIVITY REMAINS CENTERED ALONG A NORTHWARD MOVING OUTFLOW BOUNDARY CURRENTLY ALONG A LINE FROM NEAR KATY TO IAH TO LIBERTY. THIS BOUNDARY WILL CONTINUE TO BE A FOCUS FOR DEVELOPMENT THROUGH THE EARLY EVENING HOURS AS IT CONTINUES TO MOVE OFF TO THE NORTH. THE SURFACE FRONT THAT HAS REMAINED NEARLY STATIONARY TO OUR NORTH FOR THE PAST SEVERAL DAYS WILL BEGIN TO PUSH SOUTHWARD OVERNIGHT. ADDITIONAL SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DEVELOP TO OUR NORTH AND EAST OVERNIGHT AND PUSH INTO THE REGION AHEAD OF THE FRONT ON SUNDAY MORNING. WITH ABUNDANT MOISTURE AND THE BOUNDARY MOVING INTO THE REGION SUNDAY LOOKS TO BE QUITE WET WITH MUCH OF THE AREA RECEIVING RAIN. RAINFALL AMOUNTS LOOK TO AVERAGE BETWEEN ONE HALF AND ONE INCH WITH SOME ISOLATED TOTALS OF AROUND 3 INCHES WHERE THE HEAVIER THUNDERSTORMS DEVELOP. THE FRONT WILL PUSH OFFSHORE BY EARLY MONDAY MORNING BRINGING MUCH DRIER AIR INTO THE REGION. THIS WILL LEAD TO A FAIRLY PLEASANT START TO THE WEEK WITH SUNNY SKIES AND A SLOW WARMING TREND. OVERNIGHT LOWS WILL ALSO DROP CONSIDERABLY WITH SOME OF OUR NORTHERN COUNTIES SEEING TEMPERATURES DROP BRIEFLY INTO THE UPPER 60S AROUND DAYBREAK. MOISTURE RETURN BEGINS AGAIN BY EARLY THURSDAY AS WINDS BECOME ONSHORE. MODELS ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT WITH BRINGING A SERIES OF WEAK DISTURBANCES ACROSS THE REGION BUT VARY CONSIDERABLY IN TIMING AND LOCATION...THUS WILL CONTINUE TO CARRY SLIGHT CHANCE POPS THROUGH THE LAST TWO DAYS OF THE FORECAST. 38 && .MARINE... SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WELL OFFSHORE WILL WANE THIS EVENING. THE STORMS SHOULD REDEVELOP TOMORROW MORNING WITH SLIGHTLY DEEPER MOISTURE. SEAS OF 2 TO 3 FEET WILL BE BUILDING AS THE COLD FRONT MOVES OFF THE COAST MONDAY WITH NORTH TO NORTHEAST WINDS BUT BELOW SCEC CRITERIA. MAY HAVE SOME STRONG STORMS OVER THE GULF WATERS SUNDAY NIGHT AND MONDAY MORNING. TROPICAL WAVE OUT EAST OF THE LEEWARD ISLAND PROGGED TO MOVE WEST WITH THE GFS DRAGGING IT NORTHWEST UP THE ISLAND CHAIN TOWARD CUBA WHILE THE ECMWF IS MORE SOUTHERLY TRACK THROUGH THE SOUTHERN CARIBBEAN MONDAY THE 27TH ON DUE WESTERLY TRACK SO NOT CONCERN ATTM. 45 && .FIRE... WIDESPREAD RAINS WILL HELP WITH THE DRIER WEATHER OF THE LAST FEW WEEKS. COLD FRONT WILL MOVE THROUGH THE AREA MONDAY MORNING AND AFTERNOON. RH VALUES MAY DIP TO 30-35 PERCENT TUESDAY POST FRONTAL WITH THE DRY NORTHERLY FLOW. 45 && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... COLLEGE STATION (CLL) 74 93 71 92 69 / 30 50 20 10 10 HOUSTON (IAH) 77 93 74 93 71 / 30 50 30 10 10 GALVESTON (GLS) 84 89 79 90 79 / 30 50 40 20 10 && .HGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...NONE. GM...NONE. && DISCUSSION...38 AVIATION/MARINE...45
HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 602 AM CDT SAT AUG 18 2012 TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-191115- 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- 602 AM CDT SAT AUG 18 2012 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL DEVELOP TODAY IN RESPONSE TO AN INCREASE IN MOISTURE AND A WEAK UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE. THE STORMS WILL MOVE SLOWLY SO SOME OF THE STRONGER STORMS WILL HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE BRIEF...BUT LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. WIDESPREAD HEAVY RAIN IS NOT EXPECTED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SUNDAY THROUGH FRIDAY SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE ON SUNDAY AS DEEP MOISTURE AND AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE LINGER OVER TEXAS. SLOW MOVEMENT IS AGAIN EXPECTED SO A FEW OF THE STRONGER STORMS COULD PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED.
SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
600 PM CDT SAT AUG 18 2012
TXZ198-199-212-213-182345-
WALLER TX-MONTGOMERY TX-HARRIS TX-GRIMES TX-
600 PM CDT SAT AUG 18 2012
...SPECIAL WEATHER STATEMENT...
AT 557 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR WAS
TRACKING A STRONG THUNDERSTORM NEAR MAGNOLIA...OR 6 MILES WEST OF
PINEHURST...MOVING EAST AT 15 MPH.
HAIL UP TO THE SIZE OF MOTHBALLS AND WIND GUSTS UP TO 40 MPH WILL BE
POSSIBLE WITH THIS STORM.
LOCATIONS IMPACTED INCLUDE...
CONROE...THE WOODLANDS...TOMBALL...PINEHURST...OAK RIDGE NORTH...
SHENANDOAH...MAGNOLIA...CHATEAU WOODS...STAGECOACH...WOODLOCH AND
TODD MISSION.
PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...
FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM.
LIGHTNING CAN STRIKE 15 MILES AWAY FROM A THUNDERSTORM. SEEK A
SAFE SHELTER INSIDE A BUILDING OR VEHICLE.
&&
A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 900 PM CDT
SATURDAY EVENING FOR SOUTHEASTERN TEXAS.
LAT...LON 3002 9547 3004 9587 3025 9590 3037 9550
3020 9532
TIME...MOT...LOC 2257Z 264DEG 16KT 3017 9582The Houston radar (KHGX), 105 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 23:16 UTC.
1 thunderstorm wind. Local standard time, as filed.
Trees were downed near the intersection of FM 1774 and FM 1488.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2012Every state in 2012This day in weather historyWarnings in Texas, August 2012
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 407444.