Newbie on South Texas

[ChristianTerry]

So Im 17 and have a car and have studied weather and especially severe storms from a young age on my own. i have followed the most intense coverage of severe outbreaks and Im wondering does Southeast Texas ever get any good tornadoes or severe weather outbreak? I used to live in Dallas, and it seemed like we got a good amount of severe weather, mainly hail, but not that I live in Houston, I have not seen the same amount of Weather as the North part of Texas. Is there ever good outbreaks here?

 

[W. Grant Dade]

Yes, there have been some good outbreaks in the Houston area. You usually wont see the great supercell structures you find farther north, there is usually a lot of low clouds with poor visibility. Nov through Feb have been known for some Gulf Coast outbreaks. You are also close enough the the coast and bay to do a little waterspout chasing.

Tim Marshall did a nice write up on the nov 1992 tornado outbreak.

Hope that helps a little. I am sure others will chime in.

 

[ChristianTerry]

Interesting, I had heard of this outbreak before but never would have imagined a f4 in Houston. I have seen a couple interesting supercells here. Most of them are rainwrapped with a little tornado in the center. Example was one that went through Columbus. Very nasty cell.

 

[Jonathan Whitehead]

I would also like to add that another reason you dont see the frequency of events like you do in OK/KS is b/c storm systems rarely track that far south, esp in the Springtime. Additionally, your way too far east to be impacted by the dryline. Like Mr. Dade mentioned above, your best bet at seeing anything severe (or winter related for that matter) is going to be in the cool season when the flow aloft is maximized that far south in latitude.