Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 25, NWS Brownsville, TX

September 9, 2001Cameron County, Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this tornado warning at Sep 9, 2001, 6:50 PM CDT for Cameron County, Texas. It was in force for 40 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named.

The facts

Issued
Sep 9, 2001, 6:50 PM CDT (23:50 UTC)
Expired
Sep 9, 2001, 7:30 PM CDT
In force
40 min
Issued by
NWS Brownsville, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Cameron County, TX

The radar

The Brownsville radar (KBRO), 27 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:54 UTC, the scan nearest the moment this went out.

Open the radar archive at this moment

The archived warnings, watches and discussions in force at that minute are drawn over the scan, this one among them.

The nearest sounding before it

Brownsville Intl, TX (KBRO), launched 12:00Z, 11.8 hours before the alert went out and 29 km from the middle of its area. This is the routine balloon launch nearest before it, the air the forecaster had in hand, not a measurement taken for the alert.

Skew-T log-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Brownsville Intl, TX at 12:00Z on 2001-09-09Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2923 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Brownsville Intl, TX at 12:00Z on 2001-09-09The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -20 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
The wind turning with height, colored by layer: ground to 1 km, 1 to 3 km, 3 to 6 km, 6 to 10 km.
Mixed-layer CAPE
2923 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-4 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
654 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
3 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
23 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.

295 
WFUS54 KBRO 092354
TORBRO
TXC061-100030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
650 PM CDT SUN SEP 9 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  CAMERON COUNTY IN DEEP SOUTH TEXAS

* UNTIL 730 PM CDT

* AT 650 PM CDT...STORM SPOTTER REPORTED TORNADO ON THE NORTHWEST 
SIDE OF HARLINGEN. THESE TORNADOES ARE SHORT LIVED BUT CAN PRODUCE 
DAMAGE.

* THE TORNADOES WILL AFFECT HARLINGEN.

GET UNDER A WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE.  SEEK 
SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY OR CLOSET. USE 
BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Brownsville, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Sep 9, 2:10 PM CDT, 4 hours 40 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Sep 9, 2:10 PM CDT, 4 hours 40 minutes before
DEEP SOUTH TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTED CCF
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
210 PM CDT SUN SEP 9 2001

CURRENT VISIBLE SATELLITE LOOP IS SHOWING A THIN LINE OF WELL
DEVELOPED CUMULUS/TOWERING CU EXTENDING FROM JUST NORTH OF CORPUS
CHRISTI TO NEAR DEL RIO AT 09/1800Z.  IT IS DIFFICULT...AT THIS
TIME...TO DETERMINE WHETHER OR NOT THE LOW-LEVEL BOUNDARY FORCING
THE CU DEVELOPMENT IS AN OUTFLOW BOUNDARY OR THE TRUE SYNOPTIC COLD
FRONT.  ARCING NATURE OF THE CU LINE...AND LACK OF A DEWPOINT
GRADIENT PERPENDICULAR TO THE BOUNDARY WOULD ARGUE IN FAVOR OF
OUTFLOW.  LATEST MSAS ISALLOBARIC ANALYSIS INDICATES THAT STRONGEST
3-HOUR SURFACE PRESSURE RISES ARE CENTERED NEAR HOUSTON...WHICH
EXPLAINS THE FASTER SOUTHWARD PROPAGATION OF THE EASTERN PORTION OF
THIS LINE.  THE MID-LEVEL CYCLONIC CIRCULATION SEEN ON WV IMAGERY
SOUTH OF THE BIG BEND SHOULD CONTINUE MOVING NORTH AND WILL LIKELY
NOT HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON WEATHER IN SOUTH TEXAS.  KBRO
REFLECTIVITY DATA CURRENTLY SHOWS NUMEROUS SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS
ORGANIZING ALONG THE BOUNDARY...AND THESE WILL IMPACT DEEP SOUTH
TEXAS LATER THIS AFTERNOON AND THIS EVENING.

OVERALL...AM NOT COMPLETELY SURE THAT THE HEAVY RAIN EVENT SCHEDULED
FOR MONDAY WILL MATERIALIZE AS PLANNED.  BOTH 09/12Z AVN AND 09/12Z
MESOETA ARE IN GOOD AGREEMENT...SO WILL GO WITH A BLEND FOR THIS
FORECAST.  SEVERAL THINGS CONCERN ME AT THIS POINT...THE MOST OF
WHICH IS THE MID/UPPER LEVEL RIDGING AND SUBSIDENCE THAT IS PROGGED
TO BUILD BACK OVER THE AREA BEGINNING EARLY MONDAY.  BOTH MODELS
SHOW DECENT 700 MB POSITIVE VERTICAL MOTION...BUT THERE ARE NO UPPER
LEVEL FEATURES TO SUPPORT THIS.  THE SOURCE OF LIFT MUST THEREFORE
COME FROM THE LOW-LEVEL BOUNDARY/COLD FRONT...WHICH MAY NOT EVEN
MAKE IT THIS FAR SOUTH...BASED ON CURRENT SURFACE PRESSURE TRENDS.
MOS NUMBERS STILL INDICATE HIGH POPS...BUT THESE ARE LIKELY BEING
INFLUENCED SUBSTANTIALLY BY THE CLIMATOLOGY COMPONENT OF THE
PREDICTION EQUATION.  EITHER WAY...THE BEST CHANCES FOR RAIN SHOULD
BE LIMITED TO MONDAY.  THUS...WILL LIMIT ALL POPS TO 40 THROUGH
MONDAY NIGHT...AND BEGIN A DECREASING TREND AFTER MONDAY NIGHT...AS
COLD FRONT REALLY BEGINS TO DISSIPATE.

IN THE EXTENDED PERIOD OF THURSDAY THROUGH MONDAY...MODEL GUIDANCE
IS POINTING TOWARD A RETURN TO MID/UPPER LEVEL RIDGING AND A MUCH
DRIER TROPOSPHERE OVER THE AREA.  A RETURN TO WARM TEMPS...MOSTLY
SUNNY DAYS...AND MOSTLY CLEAR NIGHTS CAN BE EXPECTED.

MARINE...SOUTHEAST WINDS HAVE DECREASED TO 8 KNOTS AT BUOY
020...WITH SEAS RESPONDING BY DECREASING TO 5 FEET. A SPECIAL MARINE
WARNING CONTINUES UNTIL 3:15 PM CDT...FOR A LINE OF STRONG
THUNDERSTORMS MOVING DOWN THE LOWER TEXAS COAST.  SHOWERS AND
THUNDERSTORMS WILL BE POSSIBLE THROUGH EARLY WEDNESDAY.

PRELIMINARY NUMBERS:
BRO TB 079/091 077/093 077 40/40/40/30/30
HRL TB 077/091 075/093 075 40/40/40/30/30
MFE TB 077/092 075/094 075 40/40/40/30/30
RGC TB 076/092 074/094 074 40/40/40/30/30
SPI TB 078/088 076/089 076 40/40/40/30/30

SYNOPTIC...DD (65) / AVIATION-MARINE...BHM (54) / MESO...SM

INTERNET ADDRESS...WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/BRO

.BRO...SCA GMZ150-155-170-175.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Brownsville, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 9, 3:01 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBROKenedy3 hr
Sep 9, 3:01 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBROKenedy3 hr
Sep 9, 3:22 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROKenedy38 min
Sep 9, 3:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROBrooks, Hidalgo, Kenedy, Willacy62 min
Sep 9, 4:16 PM CDTTornado WarningBROWillacy44 min
Sep 9, 4:25 PM CDTTornado WarningBROKenedy65 min
Sep 9, 5:00 PM CDTTornado WarningBROCameron, Hidalgo, Willacy60 min
Sep 9, 5:41 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBROKenedy, Willacy3 hr
Sep 9, 6:11 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBROHidalgo, Kenedy, Willacy3 hr
Sep 9, 6:16 PM CDTTornado WarningBROCameron29 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 2001Every tornado warning in 2001Tornadoes in 2001

Sources

The product and its follow-ups from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service and Storm Prediction Center text; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.