Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 17, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

May 20, 2001Wilson County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this tornado warning at May 20, 2001, 6:05 PM CDT for Wilson County, Texas. It was in force for 25 min. 4 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline the Iowa Environmental Mesonet reconstructed for it; the warning itself named whole counties, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
May 20, 2001, 6:05 PM CDT (23:05 UTC)
Expired
May 20, 2001, 6:30 PM CDT
In force
25 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

County Wilson County, TX

What was reported inside it

TimeReportWhereRemark
May 20, 6:10 PM CDTHail 1.75Dewees, TX
May 20, 6:10 PM CDTHail 1.75Floresville, TXThe large hail damaged houses and dented car bodies, destroyed windshields and windows.
May 20, 6:10 PM CDTHail 4Stockdale, TXAgain, the very large hail damaged homes and vehicles and destroyed corn, hay and other crops in the area.
May 20, 6:15 PM CDTTornado F0Floresville, TXA very small and short-lived tornado twisted and knocked over a large tree and destroyed a small out-building in the middle of several outbuildings, then lifted and dissipated.

NCEI Storm Data entries that began inside the alert's area while it was in force. Before 2003 the local storm report archive is thin, so this is the record of what happened rather than what was phoned in.

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 11.1 hours before the alert went out and 178 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 2001-05-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 195 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 2001-05-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 108 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
195 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-489 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1288 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
108 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
168 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KEWX 202307
TORSAT
TXC493-202330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
605 PM CDT SUN MAY 20 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN TEXAS...
  WILSON

* UNTIL 630 PM CDT

* AT 605 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A   
THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG SIGNS THAT A TORNADO IS DEVELOPING BETWEEN
DEWEES...POTH AND FLORESVILLE.  STORM MOVEMENT IS NORTHEAST AT 20 
MPH.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
STAY ALERT TO THE POSSIBILITY OF FLASH FLOODING.


LAT...LON 2912 9833 2899 9815 2915 9788 2921 9784
          2934 9793 2938 9816

The office that day

Everything else NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 20, 5:07 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXAtascosa53 min
May 20, 5:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXKarnes, Wilson61 min
May 20, 6:44 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXGonzales, Guadalupe61 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive.