Heavy rains caused flooding from a north to south line of thunderstorms. Damage was caused by a tornado, thunderstorm winds and a lightning strike.
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.
Heavy rains caused flooding from a north to south line of thunderstorms. Damage was caused by a tornado, thunderstorm winds and a lightning strike.
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 Oct 20, 3:19 AM CST, 39 minutes earlier.
Area Forecast Discussion
National Weather Service Houston/Galveston TX
419 AM CDT Fri Oct 20 2017
.DISCUSSION...
At 3 AM, a coastal trough was located from about Port Arthur to
Galveston to Palacios. At 850 mb, high pressure was located over
the middle Tennessee valley and the flow around this feature was
bring a plume of deeper moisture into SE TX. 850 MB dew points
have increased to 15 C at CRP. At 300 mb, upper level winds were
strongly diffluent and a speed max was noted approaching West
Texas. Water vapor imagery shows two distinct disturbances with
the first approaching early this morning and the second and weaker
disturbance arriving late this morning. At 345 AM, a band of
showers and thunderstorms extended from Sugar Land to Galveston
and then offhsore. This band will continue to move north and
should be in Houston by the morning commute. The latest HRRR runs
and the Hi Res ARW both support some training of precip this
morning over Harris county and concern is growing that some
locally heavy rain could develop. Will mention locally heavy rain
in the weather grids for Braz/Galv and Harris counties for this
morning. Some of the short term guidance is producing 3 to 6
inches of rain this morning so it's something to watch.
PW values decrease tonight to around 1.60 inches and not seeing
much forcing. Will carry 20 PoPs for now but think it'll be dry
for most of the area. Models continue to advertise rain on
Saturday. Fcst soundings not looking impressive with a lot of dry
air between 900-700 MB. Upper level winds remain weakly diffluent
and both the GFS and ECMWF show a strong disturbance embedded in
the SW flow aloft moving across the western half of the CWA in
aftn. Will carry 30 PoPs for now but these may need to be raised.
A strong cold front will approach the area late Saturday night
into Sunday morning. Strong forcing from an upper level trough and
favorable jet dynamics favor widespread precip ahead of the front.
SE TX will lie in a 90 kt RRQ which should aid lift. Only concern
on Sunday morning is that a pre frontal trough may develop and
outrun the actual front decrease the low level convergence. Even
so, feel upper level dynamics will compensate if low level
convergence weakens. Have favored the ECMWF for Sundays precips
event over the GFS. Skies should begin to clear from west to east
Sunday afternoon with generally clear skies and much cooler
temperatures SUnday night.
Monday through Wednesday look spectacular with generally clear
skies and cool autumn temperatures. onshore winds return Thursday
and temperatures will trend warmer with afternoon high temps back
into the lower 80s. GFS and ECMWF differ significantly Friday and
beyond with the ECMWF producing more rain with next Friday's front
and placing SE TX in a zonal flow for early next week. The GFS
shows a weaker front next Friday with less rain and it maintains
a weak upper level weakness. Have leaned a bit toward the ECMWF.
43
&&
.MARINE...
An coastal trough will help generate periods of showers and
thunderstorms today. Easterly winds over the coastal waters may
actually become southeasterly today due to the coastal trough.
Conditions are expected to reach advisory levels due mainly to wind
speeds east of Freeport with caution levels west of Freeport. That
said, winds and seas will be higher in and near thunderstorms.
Elevated tides are also a concern today. During times of high tides
later today, minor coastal flooding is possible along the Bolivar
Peninsula and near Surfside.
40
&&
.PRELIMINARY POINT TEMPS/POPS...
College Station (CLL) 83 71 87 69 78 / 60 20 30 60 60
Houston (IAH) 81 73 87 73 83 / 70 20 30 50 70
Galveston (GLS) 82 78 84 77 84 / 70 40 30 40 70
&&
.HGX WATCHES/WARNINGS/ADVISORIES...
TX...NONE.
GM...SMALL CRAFT SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION until 10 AM CDT this morning
for the following zones: Coastal waters from Freeport to
the Matagorda Ship Channel out 20 NM...Galveston Bay...
Matagorda Bay.
Small Craft Advisory until 10 AM CDT this morning for the
following zones: Coastal waters from High Island to
Freeport out 20 NM...Waters from Freeport to the Matagorda
Ship Channel from 20 to 60 NM...Waters from High Island to
Freeport from 20 to 60 NM.
&&The Houston radar (KHGX), 1 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 09:56 UTC.
1 tornado, 1 thunderstorm wind, 1 lightning, 1 flash flood. Local standard time, as filed.
An EF0 tornado downed trees and branches along either side of Benson's Bayou. Damage included home and vehicle windows along with residential fences.
Damage was reported near the intersection of FM 646 and Highway 3.
Lightning struck a tree and ignited a natural gas line.
Multiple roadways were flooded and impassable, including southern I-45 feeder roads in Friendswood and League City, the intersection of West Bay Area Blvd and FM 518, and Westover Park Avenue south of FM 518.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Texas in 2017Every state in 2017This day in weather historyThe tornado archive for Texas, 2017Warnings in Texas, October 2017
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: 719055, 719056, 722232, 719058.