YEAR |
DATE(s) |
EVENT |
2000 |
1st-2nd |
Severe thunderstorms with strong damaging
winds, large hail and a tornado swept through Southeast Texas from late evening on the 1st
through early morning on the 2nd. Widespread wind damage impacted Harris, Ft. Bend, Wharton,
Brazoria and Galveston counties with gusts as high as 80 mph. Nearly all the wind damage was
due to downburst winds, with only one F0 tornado reported in Rosharon (Brazoria County).
Severe damage occured at Clover Field in Pearland (Brazoria County) where several planes were
overturned and two airplane hangers were destroyed, and at Scholes Field in Galveston
(Galveston County) where several small planes were overturned and the NOAA P-3 research
aircraft was damaged. A massive hailstorm with golfball to baseball size hail struck the
Conroe area (Montgomery County) producing over $10 million in damage to automobiles (over
1000 automobiles at several dealerships), carports and several businesses. At least 28 windows
were smashed at a fire station in Conroe with at least 75 patrol cars severely damaged. Wind
and hail caused destruction of crops in Burleson County and in southern Austin and Ft. Bend
Counties. Total damage for the event in Southeast Texas was estimated to be near $25
million.
|
2000 |
19th-20th |
Major flash flooding was observed in the
western portion of Liberty County in the Liberty and Dayton areas. Water covered US 90 and was
closed for over 12 hours. Half the streets in Liberty were covered with 1 to 2 feet of water with
widespread street flooding also observed in Dayton. At least 262 homes and 42 businesses were
damaged countywide, including half the homes in the Oak Forest subdivision in Liberty. 60 to 80
people were rescued from flood waters. Several schools were also damaged. Water levels reached 18
feet high on the SH 321 underpass in Dayton. The co-op observer in Liberty reported a storm total
of 19.1 inches of rain, with 18.3 inches falling in only 5 hours! Strong damaging winds
and an F0 tornado also accompanied these storms and downed many trees. Major flooding was also
observed in northern Harris County when this storm began to organize. Heavy rains brought one
foot of water in the approach control tower at Intercontinental airport. Total damage was
over $10.2 million...with over $10 million alone in Liberty County.
|
1999 |
10th |
A bow echo with strong damaging winds moved
across the southern half of Southeast Texas just before sunrise causing widespread damage. The
Houston area reported trees and power lines down, roof damage, and windows blown out of several
downtown buildings. Computers were actually blown out the downtown windows by the winds estimated
to be between 60 and 70 mph. Other damage included 49 railroad cars blown off the tracks (Santa Fe
in Galveston County), a two-ton boat blown into a car along Channelview drive (Galveston in
Galveston Island), and trees down in Guy (Fort Bend County), New Caney (Montgomery County),
Cleveland and Liberty (Liberty County), and just north of Alvin (Brazoria County). Total damage was
over $1.8 million...of which over $1 million was in Harris County (Houston and surrounding
communities) alone.
|
1998 |
entire month |
Record low rainfall (0.04 inches at Houston's
Intercontinental Airport) began a string of dry months that set the stage for the 1999-2000 drought.
The 0.04 inches this month tied the record for the driest May set back in 1892.
|
1998 |
12th-20th |
Smoke and haze from forest fires burning in
Mexico and Central America surged northward into Southeast Texas reducing visibilities to 3 miles
or less for more than a week.
|
1997 |
24th-25th |
Heavy rains brought severe flooding to the
Houston area (Harris County). 50 to 75 homes had flood damage. Creeks and bayous were out of their
banks in many locations. Many cars were flooded. A cab driver and a 12 year old boy had to be
rescued after flood waters swept them away from White Oak Bayou. Both hung onto trees before being
rescued. Both had many ant bites. Total flood damage was $250,000.
|
1996 |
entire month |
Drought plagued Southeast Texas during the
month. Very little rain fell across the area this month, a month that is normally one of the
wettest of the year. Many stations actually received less than a tenth of an inch of rain. Houston's
Intercontinental Airport reported 0.31 inches of rain which was one of the driest Mays on record.
Many spring crops were lost to the agricultural cummunity. Drought damage was $10 million for
property, $50 million for agriculture.
|
1995 |
18th |
A supercell moved across Lake Houston and intensified
to form a mesocyclone as it moved into Liberty County. Four tornadoes (three F0 and one F1)
developed as the supercell moved from west to east actoss the county. Areas near Dayton and Daisetta
and downton Liberty received damage...the most extensive being in Liberty. Twelve people were
injured and two required hospitalization from the Liberty tornado. Total crop and property damage
was $800,000.
|
1994 |
13th |
An MCS developed across Central Texas and moved
to the east into all of Southeast Texas during the morning. Nearly every county reported damage due
to either wind, hail, or tornadoes. The costliest damage was in near Stagecoach (Montgomery
County) where an F1 tornado cut a 4 mile long and 50 yard wide path of destruction...and in western
Washington County where an F2 tornado damaged several homes.
|
1993 |
2nd |
Thunderstorm winds in a fast moving squall
line (as high as 98 mph at Galveston's Scholes Field) moved across Harris, Galveston and Brazoria
counties during the early morning hours. Across the three counties, trees were knocked down, roofs
were damaged, and power lines were blown or knocked down. At Scholes Field, three hangars were
destroyed and two private aircraft were damaged. In Galveston, 64 businesses were damaged and 12
apartment complexes and several large stores had roofs stripped of shingles and windows blown in.
More than 200,000 people were left without electricity in the three counties. |
1992 |
28th |
Hail from dime to tennis ball size
accompanied a severe thunderstorm as it moved across the northwest portions of Houston (Harris
County). The tennis ball size hail was in the northwest portions of Houston on the Katy Freeway.
|
1991 |
4th |
Damage was reported across a large part of Wharton
County from severe thunderstorms that moved through the area. Hardest hit was the El Campo area
where severe thunderstorm winds destroyed three mobile homes. The hospital and adjacent
clinic received heavy damage; several windows were blown out, and the roof was removed from the
clinic. Power lines were downed across the county. 90 to 105 mph winds were reported in
Pierce by the DPS office. Total countywide damage was over $1.5 million.
|
1990 |
13th to end |
The Record Flood of 1990 occurred across the
Lower Trinity River Basin due to heavy North Texas rainfall earlier in the month. 4,000 homes were
flooded in Liberty, Polk, San Jacinto, Madison, Walker, and Chambers counties. The major brunt of
the damage was felt in Liberty County where around 2,500 homes were flooded. 200 homes were declared
a total loss. 7,000 people across the county were evacuated. The hardest hit area was Dayton Lakes
estate in the Trinity River bottom where flood waters isolated the community from around the 13th to
well into July. The only way in or out of the subdivision was by boat. Total Liberty County
property damage was around $100 million. In addition, the brown shrimp and oyster crop was totally
wiped out in Trinity and Galveston Bays due to prolonged fresh water intrusion.
|
1989 |
17th to 29th |
The Great May Flood of '89 developed in the
drainage areas of the Sabine, Trinity and Neches rivers. Smaller drainage areas such as Cypress,
Spring, Peach, and Caney creeks were also flooded from the deluge of torrential rains on the
17th and the 18th. Greens Bayou and the San Jacinto River also had serious overflow. Rainfall
totals included: 10.36 inches in a 24 hour period ending at 2 PM on the 18th at Houston's
Intercontinental Airport (this still stands as the greatest 24 hour rainfall total at the
airport), 15 inches in Spring (northern Harris county), 14 inches at Liberty (Liberty county),
13 inches at The Woodlands (Montgomery county), and 11 inches at Conroe (Montgomery county) and at
Luce Bayou (northeast Harris county). Nearly a thousand homes were damaged. Damage costs were well
over $12 million. The flooding caused two fatalities in Liberty county.
|