A waterspout south of Galveston, moved onshore and became a tornado. No damage was observed as it dissipated before crossing Seawall Boulevard.
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The episode as NWS HGX wrote it up.
A waterspout south of Galveston, moved onshore and became a tornado. No damage was observed as it dissipated before crossing Seawall Boulevard.
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 Jul 17, 5:50 AM CST, 1 hour 40 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Houston/Galveston TX 650 AM CDT SUN JUL 17 2016 .AVIATION... MVFR ceilings continue to develop across Central Texas early this morning and CLL/CXO may see brief periods of MVFR restrictions through mid-morning today. A weakness moving under an upper ridge centered west of the region with deeper moisture returning will result in greater SHRA/ isolated TSRA coverage near the terminals today than what was observed yesterday. Already seeing a few SHRA near GLS as of 1145Z and expect additional development along the coast late morning and along the I-10 corridor by early afternoon with heating. Have kept VCTS mention in for UTS, CXO, SGR, and the Houston terminals as a result and added a VCSH mention in for GLS through the remainder of the morning. While likelihood of a terminal impact are low, activity will be capably of producing brief heavy downpours that may result in temporary visibility reductions. May also see a stray shower near CLL this afternoon, but probabilities are too low to include mention in TAF attm. Expect any SHRA/TSRA that develops to dissipate after sunset. Otherwise, VFR conditions are expected to prevail at all TAF sites through the period with southerly winds becoming southeasterly 5 to 10 knots this afternoon. Huffman && .PREV DISCUSSION... /ISSUED / DISCUSSION... The last few hours an upper low has moved out of Gulf into Mexico just south of Brownsville with the upper shear axis nearing the Upper Texas coast as of 4 am. Starting to see some scattered showers develop in the favored area of lift over the far Upper Texas coastal waters. This shear axis continues to shift inland this morning and should bring a little lift to the area after days of subsidence. Soundings support scattered showers and thunderstorms today across the southeastern 2/3rds of the area. Temperatures today will probably be moderated by cloud cover and outflow so have pared back temps a degree or two - though this may feel a bit cooler it will likely still be above normal in the mid 90s with heat index readings in the 101 to 104 range. Storms will be fairly slow moving and capable brief heavy downpours but not expecting any big clusters just more of the ordinary summer variety. Storms should wane by 6-7 pm with the loss of daytime heating. Upper flow remains favorable for more showers after midnight Monday morning in the coastal waters expanding onshore early Monday. Again the area could see scattered showers and thunderstorms spreading inland and then focusing along the seabreeze Monday afternoon. But by Monday night the anomalous upper ridging over OK/MO expands and will likely return to a subsidence dominated weather regime with temperatures creeping back up into the mid-upper 90s. Rain chances Tue-Fri look slim and mainly along and south of the Highway 59 corridor. The upper ridge finally begins to weaken Saturday which should allow for weak disturbances to ride into the area from the east which could mean a slight increase to rain chances over the weekend. 45 MARINE... Light to occasionally moderate onshore flow today will become easterly Monday through the remainder of the week as surface high pressure over the southeastern US builds farther west. Seas generally in the 1-3 feet range are expected to persist through mid- week, increasing to 2-4 feet mid to late week in response to the long, easterly fetch across the northern Gulf. Scattered showers/isolated thunderstorms will also be possible across the coastal waters through mid-week. Otherwise, tide levels within one foot of normal today will increase to slightly above normal this week as easterly surface flow becomes established. Huffman && .PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS... College Station (CLL) 96 76 94 76 97 / 20 0 20 10 20 Houston (IAH) 94 77 93 76 95 / 40 10 40 10 30 Galveston (GLS) 90 82 91 83 90 / 20 10 40 20 30 && .HGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES... TX...NONE. GM...NONE. && Discussion...45 Aviation/Marine...14
The Houston radar (KHGX), 33 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 13:32 UTC.
1 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.
A waterspout moved onshore and became a weak tornado just east of the Galveston Fishing Pier at 61st Street. The tornado moved across Seawall Boulevard and dissipated. There was no damage.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2016Every state in 2016This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 2016Warnings in Texas, July 2016
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: 636446.