June Severe Weather Events

YEAR	DATE(s)	EVENT
2001	5th-10th	Tropical Storm Allison devastated a large portion of southeast Texas with an incredible amount of rain as she meandered around the area for over five days. Between the 5th and the 10th, much of Houston and the surrounding areas to the north, east and south received between 15 and 35 inches of rain which caused devastating flooding and flash flooding. The largest amount fell over a 6 to 12 hour period on the 8th and 9th resulting in 22 deaths in the Houston area. More than 48,000 homes were damaged (11,000 with major damage and 3,600 completely destroyed). More than 70,000 automobiles were flooded during the storm. In Harris County alone, an estimated 300 billion gallons of water fell. This amount was enough to fill the Astrodome more than 5,600 times! Allison ended up being the costliest tropical storm ever (>$5 billion) for the state of Texas and for the United States. Allison is still the only tropical storm to have her name retired by the World Meteorological Organization.
1998	5th	Severe thunderstorms produced large hail at several locations throughout the afternoon and evening hours, including 2.00 inch hail in Hempstead (Waller County) and 4 miles northwest of Louise (Wharton County), 1.75 inch hail 10 miles north of Navasota (Grimes County) and at the intersection of US 290 and FM 2920 4 miles northeast of Hockley (Harris County) and in El Campo (Wharton County), and 1.50 inch hail in Waller (Waller County). In addition, wind damage was observed from near Trinity (Trinity County) to near Huntsville (Walker County) to near Bellville (Austin County) to Weimer (Colorado County). Strong damaging windsmade it to the coast where 85 knot (98 mph) winds were estimated by the Coast Guard at the ferry landing. These winds blew dredge pipes (75 feet long and 2000 to 3000 pounds) off shore and into the water. Total damage areawide was nearly $150,000.
1997	17th	A large supercell developed over northwest Harris County between Katy and Cypress around 11 AM and tracked ESE at 35 mph across the county. The storm produced a large swath of straight line wind damage as it crossed through the northwest suburbs...the heart of downtown Houston...the ship channel...and the Bay area communities. There was widespread damage to windows, billboards and powerlines along the storm's path. Damage reports included thousands of trees blown down throughout the Houston area (some on cars and houses), a small wall collapse at the Astrodome, signs blown down areawide, and trees and fences blown down. The highest estimated wind was 65 mph. Up to 192,000 customers were without power in the wake of the storm. Eight injuries were caused by flying broken glass in the downtown area. Total damage was estimated around $635,000.
1996	entire month	Drought continued across nearly all of Southeast Texas...especially inland locations. Areas to the west and north of Houston had rainfall reports about 75% below the normals for the first six months of the year. Damage from the extended drought began to reach record proportions as many crops were being completely lost and a large portion of animals were being sold because of a lack of grass in pasture lands. Property damage from the drought through the first six months of 1996 was $10 million and the agricultural loss was $100 million.
1996	20th	Grapefruit sized (4.50 inch) hail fell in Egypt (Wharton County) as a severe thunderstorm developed and moved to the southwest through the county. 30% to 40% of the Egypt homes had significant roof and window damage. Trees were snapped and many cars were totalled. There was a significant agriculture loss (1000 acres of sorgham, 200 acres of corn and 1000 acres of soybeans were destroyed). Total damage from these storms was estimated at $10 million.
1995	11th	Early morning severe thunderstorms produced damaging winds as high as 85 mph across a large portion of Southeast Texas from the Lake Livingston area (Trinity and Polk Counties) southward to Conroe (Montgomery County) and the Houston-Alief area (Harris County) and on toward the coast in Galveston (Galveston County). Damage included numerous trees blown down, extensive property damage to the Guest Motel in Stafford and throughout Stafford (Fort Bend County), the roof blown off the Houston Community College (Harris County), and trees and powerlines down in the Alvin and Manvel area (Brazoria County). Total damage was around $1.75 million...much of which occured in the Fulshear and Stafford areas of Fort Bend County.
1995	30th	Flash Flooding developed across the coastal counties (Harris, Brazoria, Galveston and Chambers) in the overnight hours when 3 to 7 inches of rain swamped the area. Widespread street flooding was reported throughout the counties, and damage was estimated around $40,000.
1993	19th-22nd	Flooding and Flash Flooding developed across most of Southeast Texas from the remnants of Tropical Storm Arlene. Arlene made landfall 45 miles south of Corpus Christi early on the 20th. The effects of the storm began on the 19th and continued into the 22nd. Storm totals ranged from 6 to 12 inches with isolated totals near inches. Many FM and County roads were periodically closed and reopened through the period due to the flooding as a result of the heavy rains and swollen rivers and streams.
1992	1st	An F1 Tornado caused the roof of a northwest Houston area daycare center (Harris County) to collapse, injuring two children inside. Several powerlines and trees were also downed in the area.
1989	7th	An F2 Tornado cut a path of destruction across the northern portions of Burleson County from Criesman to between Caldwell and Cooks Point around midday. This tornado already caused damaged in nearby Milam County when it moved into Criesman where 7 homes were destroyed and another 10 were damaged. Vehicles and equipment were destroyed. The tornado crossed Texas highway 36 about 7 miles northwest of Caldwell where hundreds of trees were downed - many were snapped off at their bases. Many outbuildings were destroyed. At least one mobile home was demolished. About 6 miles north of Caldwell, the path of this tornado intersected the tornado that moved through the area back on November 15th, 1987.
1989	24th-27th	Tropical Storm Allison produced major flooding in north and east Harris County and in southern Liberty and northern Chambers counties where over 10 inches of rain fell in a 24 hour period. Storm totals for four days ending on the 27th were close to 15 inches in eastern Harris County. Major overbank flooding began on rivers and bayous on the 26th and continued in the area through the first week in July. All rivers and lowlands in the area were flooded and waters were very slow to recede. Tides up to 7 feet occured at the upper end of Trinity Bay near Baytown. There were 11 drowning fatalities and a half billion dollars damage due to Allison.
1987	11th-12th	Severe Flooding developed across Chambers, Fort Bend, Harris, Liberty and Montgomery Counties when 5 to 10 inches of rain fell across the area. The Highlands and Crosby areas in eastern Harris County were hardest hit as the area received up to nearly 12 inches of rain. The water rose into around 200 homes in the area. The water was reported to be knee deep along Main Street in downtown Highlands where several businesses were flooded. Almost 10 inches of rain fell in the San Jacinto drainage below Lake Houston (most of it on the afternoon of the 11th). The heavy rains extended northward above Lake Houston into and along Luce Bayou. There were evacuations near Huffman and along Luce Bayou. On the 12th, several homes in the area were half submerged in flood waters. On the 12th, 6 inches of rain fell in the Clear Lake area where flooding was reported. 10 inches fell in and around the Baytown area, and serious flooding was reported. 4 to 5 inches fell in southwest Harris County from near Bellaire to Alief. Low areas around Brays and Keegan Bayou were flooded in Richmond and Sugarland. Heavy rains closed roads in Chambers County, especially in the Mont Belvieu area. Heavy rains also fell northward into southern Montgomery County where flood waters accumulated and flooded some homes and drove some people out near New Caney. One fatality (drowning) ocurred on the north side of Houston (Halls Bayou).
1986	26th	Hurricane Bonnie became the first June hurricane to affect the Texas coast since 1957 when she made landfall between High Island and Sabine Pass early in the morning. The main weather from Bonnie was flooding across portions of Southeast Texas. Around 1300 persons were forced from their homes from the torrential rains which were heaviest from the Beaumont area northwest to Lake Livingston. As much as 13 inches of rain fell at Ace in southern Polk County. This heavy rain produced a runoff that resulted in a rise on the Mill and Menard Creek that flooded Bear Foot Lake and some homes surrounding the lake. The lake rose and the flood waters eroded part of the Big Thicket Lake Estate Dam. Below the dam, about 200 families were evacuated in fear that the structure would give way. There were no injuries or deaths from this event. In San Jacinto County, flooding occured along Big Creek which closed US Highway 59 for several hours. There was overbank flooding in Polk County. Tides were generally 3 to 4 feet on the Bolivar Peninsula. The highest tide at Galveston was 2.2 feet on the evening of the 25th. The effects of Bonnie on Galveston and Harris Counties were trifle or nil.

YEAR

DATE(s)

EVENT

2001

5th-10th

Tropical Storm Allison devastated a large portion of southeast Texas with an incredible amount of rain as she meandered around the area for over five days. Between the 5th and the 10th, much of Houston and the surrounding areas to the north, east and south received between 15 and 35 inches of rain which caused devastating flooding and flash flooding. The largest amount fell over a 6 to 12 hour period on the 8th and 9th resulting in 22 deaths in the Houston area. More than 48,000 homes were damaged (11,000 with major damage and 3,600 completely destroyed). More than 70,000 automobiles were flooded during the storm. In Harris County alone, an estimated 300 billion gallons of water fell. This amount was enough to fill the Astrodome more than 5,600 times! Allison ended up being the costliest tropical storm ever (>$5 billion) for the state of Texas and for the United States. Allison is still the only tropical storm to have her name retired by the World Meteorological Organization.

1998

5th

Severe thunderstorms produced large hail at several locations throughout the afternoon and evening hours, including 2.00 inch hail in Hempstead (Waller County) and 4 miles northwest of Louise (Wharton County), 1.75 inch hail 10 miles north of Navasota (Grimes County) and at the intersection of US 290 and FM 2920 4 miles northeast of Hockley (Harris County) and in El Campo (Wharton County), and 1.50 inch hail in Waller (Waller County). In addition, wind damage was observed from near Trinity (Trinity County) to near Huntsville (Walker County) to near Bellville (Austin County) to Weimer (Colorado County). Strong damaging windsmade it to the coast where 85 knot (98 mph) winds were estimated by the Coast Guard at the ferry landing. These winds blew dredge pipes (75 feet long and 2000 to 3000 pounds) off shore and into the water. Total damage areawide was nearly $150,000.

1997

17th

A large supercell developed over northwest Harris County between Katy and Cypress around 11 AM and tracked ESE at 35 mph across the county. The storm produced a large swath of straight line wind damage as it crossed through the northwest suburbs...the heart of downtown Houston...the ship channel...and the Bay area communities. There was widespread damage to windows, billboards and powerlines along the storm's path. Damage reports included thousands of trees blown down throughout the Houston area (some on cars and houses), a small wall collapse at the Astrodome, signs blown down areawide, and trees and fences blown down. The highest estimated wind was 65 mph. Up to 192,000 customers were without power in the wake of the storm. Eight injuries were caused by flying broken glass in the downtown area. Total damage was estimated around $635,000.

1996

entire month

Drought continued across nearly all of Southeast Texas...especially inland locations. Areas to the west and north of Houston had rainfall reports about 75% below the normals for the first six months of the year. Damage from the extended drought began to reach record proportions as many crops were being completely lost and a large portion of animals were being sold because of a lack of grass in pasture lands. Property damage from the drought through the first six months of 1996 was $10 million and the agricultural loss was $100 million.

1996

20th

Grapefruit sized (4.50 inch) hail fell in Egypt (Wharton County) as a severe thunderstorm developed and moved to the southwest through the county. 30% to 40% of the Egypt homes had significant roof and window damage. Trees were snapped and many cars were totalled. There was a significant agriculture loss (1000 acres of sorgham, 200 acres of corn and 1000 acres of soybeans were destroyed). Total damage from these storms was estimated at $10 million.

1995

11th

Early morning severe thunderstorms produced damaging winds as high as 85 mph across a large portion of Southeast Texas from the Lake Livingston area (Trinity and Polk Counties) southward to Conroe (Montgomery County) and the Houston-Alief area (Harris County) and on toward the coast in Galveston (Galveston County). Damage included numerous trees blown down, extensive property damage to the Guest Motel in Stafford and throughout Stafford (Fort Bend County), the roof blown off the Houston Community College (Harris County), and trees and powerlines down in the Alvin and Manvel area (Brazoria County). Total damage was around $1.75 million...much of which occured in the Fulshear and Stafford areas of Fort Bend County.

1995

30th

Flash Flooding developed across the coastal counties (Harris, Brazoria, Galveston and Chambers) in the overnight hours when 3 to 7 inches of rain swamped the area. Widespread street flooding was reported throughout the counties, and damage was estimated around $40,000.

1993

19th-22nd

Flooding and Flash Flooding developed across most of Southeast Texas from the remnants of Tropical Storm Arlene. Arlene made landfall 45 miles south of Corpus Christi early on the 20th. The effects of the storm began on the 19th and continued into the 22nd. Storm totals ranged from 6 to 12 inches with isolated totals near inches. Many FM and County roads were periodically closed and reopened through the period due to the flooding as a result of the heavy rains and swollen rivers and streams.

1992

1st

An F1 Tornado caused the roof of a northwest Houston area daycare center (Harris County) to collapse, injuring two children inside. Several powerlines and trees were also downed in the area.

1989

7th

An F2 Tornado cut a path of destruction across the northern portions of Burleson County from Criesman to between Caldwell and Cooks Point around midday. This tornado already caused damaged in nearby Milam County when it moved into Criesman where 7 homes were destroyed and another 10 were damaged. Vehicles and equipment were destroyed. The tornado crossed Texas highway 36 about 7 miles northwest of Caldwell where hundreds of trees were downed - many were snapped off at their bases. Many outbuildings were destroyed. At least one mobile home was demolished. About 6 miles north of Caldwell, the path of this tornado intersected the tornado that moved through the area back on November 15th, 1987.

1989

24th-27th

Tropical Storm Allison produced major flooding in north and east Harris County and in southern Liberty and northern Chambers counties where over 10 inches of rain fell in a 24 hour period. Storm totals for four days ending on the 27th were close to 15 inches in eastern Harris County. Major overbank flooding began on rivers and bayous on the 26th and continued in the area through the first week in July. All rivers and lowlands in the area were flooded and waters were very slow to recede. Tides up to 7 feet occured at the upper end of Trinity Bay near Baytown. There were 11 drowning fatalities and a half billion dollars damage due to Allison.

1987

11th-12th

Severe Flooding developed across Chambers, Fort Bend, Harris, Liberty and Montgomery Counties when 5 to 10 inches of rain fell across the area. The Highlands and Crosby areas in eastern Harris County were hardest hit as the area received up to nearly 12 inches of rain. The water rose into around 200 homes in the area. The water was reported to be knee deep along Main Street in downtown Highlands where several businesses were flooded. Almost 10 inches of rain fell in the San Jacinto drainage below Lake Houston (most of it on the afternoon of the 11th). The heavy rains extended northward above Lake Houston into and along Luce Bayou. There were evacuations near Huffman and along Luce Bayou. On the 12th, several homes in the area were half submerged in flood waters. On the 12th, 6 inches of rain fell in the Clear Lake area where flooding was reported. 10 inches fell in and around the Baytown area, and serious flooding was reported. 4 to 5 inches fell in southwest Harris County from near Bellaire to Alief. Low areas around Brays and Keegan Bayou were flooded in Richmond and Sugarland. Heavy rains closed roads in Chambers County, especially in the Mont Belvieu area. Heavy rains also fell northward into southern Montgomery County where flood waters accumulated and flooded some homes and drove some people out near New Caney. One fatality (drowning) ocurred on the north side of Houston (Halls Bayou).

1986

26th

Hurricane Bonnie became the first June hurricane to affect the Texas coast since 1957 when she made landfall between High Island and Sabine Pass early in the morning. The main weather from Bonnie was flooding across portions of Southeast Texas. Around 1300 persons were forced from their homes from the torrential rains which were heaviest from the Beaumont area northwest to Lake Livingston. As much as 13 inches of rain fell at Ace in southern Polk County. This heavy rain produced a runoff that resulted in a rise on the Mill and Menard Creek that flooded Bear Foot Lake and some homes surrounding the lake. The lake rose and the flood waters eroded part of the Big Thicket Lake Estate Dam. Below the dam, about 200 families were evacuated in fear that the structure would give way. There were no injuries or deaths from this event. In San Jacinto County, flooding occured along Big Creek which closed US Highway 59 for several hours. There was overbank flooding in Polk County. Tides were generally 3 to 4 feet on the Bolivar Peninsula. The highest tide at Galveston was 2.2 feet on the evening of the 25th. The effects of Bonnie on Galveston and Harris Counties were trifle or nil.