Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 22, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

October 5, 2001Brazoria County, Fort Bend County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Oct 5, 2001, 2:40 PM CDT for Brazoria County, Fort Bend County, Texas. It was in force for 50 min. No storm report in the archive falls 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.

The facts

Issued
Oct 5, 2001, 2:40 PM CDT (19:40 UTC)
Expired
Oct 5, 2001, 3:30 PM CDT
In force
50 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Brazoria County, TX, Fort Bend County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 52 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:44 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

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 7.7 hours before the alert went out and 247 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 2001-10-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1400 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 2001-10-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 116 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
1400 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-8 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
612 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
116 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
142 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

193 
WFUS54 KHGX 051942
TORHOU
TXC039-157-052030-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
240 PM CDT FRI OCT 5 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN FORT BEND COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
  NORTHERN BRAZORIA COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS

* UNTIL 330 PM CDT

* AT 234 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF  
PRODUCING A TORNADO 18 MILES SOUTHWEST OF IOWA COLONY AND ABOUT 10 
MILES EAST OF DAMON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE...
  ARCOLA...IOWA COLONY...JULIFF
  FRESNO

MOVE TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. ABANDON YOUR CAR
OR MOBILE HOME FOR A STRONG SHELTER NOW

PLEASE REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE COUNTY SHERIFF...LOCAL POLICE...
OR DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY. THEY WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

LAT...LON 2931 9579 2918 9564 2943 9533 2956 9546

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 Houston/Galveston, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Oct 5, 2:30 PM CDT, 10 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 5, 2:30 PM CDT, 10 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION...CORRECTION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
230 PM CDT FRI OCT 5 2001

SURFACE ANALYSIS SHOWS COLD FRONT EXTENDING FROM SOUTH OF DALLAS TO
JUST SOUTH OF SAN ANGELO AT 19Z. PREFRONTAL TROF LOCATED AHEAD OF
FRONT WITH CONVECTION DEVELOPING ALONG TROF FROM TYLER TO WACO.

FRONT TO CROSS CWA THIS EVENING A LITTLE AHEAD OF 12Z MESOETA
FORECAST. EXPECT MAIN COLD FRONT TO MOVE INTO NRN ZONES BY 00Z AND
OFF COAST AROUND 06Z. MAIN QUESTION IS COVERAGE OF TSRA AND THREAT
OF SEVERE AHEAD OF FRONT TONIGHT. BOTH 12Z MESOETA/AVN SHOW BEST
LIFT/DYNAMICS ASSOCIATED WITH ONGOING CONVECTION TO SHIFT EAST OF
CWA BY 00Z...AS 700 MB TROF MOVES TOWARD LOUISIANA. MAIN FORCING FOR
TSRA BY TONIGHT WILL BE LIMITED TO CONVERGENCE ALONG PREFRONTAL TROF
AND FRONT. CLOUD COVER/PRECIP HAS LIMITED DESTABILIZATION ACROSS CWA
THIS AFTN. 18Z LAPS ANALYSIS SHOWED CAPES AROUND 2500 AND LIS AROUND
-8 OVER NRN/WRN ZONES BUT THIS IS LIKELY OVERDONE. WILL MAINTAIN
MENTION OF SEVERE IN ZONES...BUT EXPECT ONLY ISOLATED THREAT.

SURFACE HIGH BUILDS IN BEHIND THE FRONT FOR THE WEEKEND. 850 MB
MOISTURE NEVER GETS TOTALLY SCOURED OUT SO EXPECT MOSTLY CLOUDY
SKIES SATURDAY WITH SOME CLEARING NORTH LATE IN THE DAY. WILL LEAN
TOWARD COOLEST GUIDANCE SATURDAY GIVEN CURRENT TEMPS IN 40S/50S
BEHIND FRONT. CLEARING SKIES WILL ALLOW TEMPS TO DROP INTO THE 40S
NE ZONES SATURDAY NIGHT BUT LINGERING CLOUDS WILL KEEP SOUTHERN
ZONES WARMER. 850 MB MOISTURE INCREASES ACROSS CWA FROM SOUTHWEST ON
SUNDAY SO EXPECT MORE CLOUD COVER ESPECIALLY WRN/SRN ZONES.

FOR EXTENDED...500 MB FLOW ACROSS U.S. SHIFTS TO MORE ZONAL PATTERN
NEXT WEEK. UPPER LOW DIGS MOVES INTO SOUTHERN ROCKIES WITH STRONG
ONSHORE FLOW ACROSS TX MOST OF THE WEEK. WAA PATTERN AND SHORTWAVES
IN FLOW ALOFT WILL KEEP CHANCE OF TSRA IN FCST MOST OF THE WEEK.

.HGX...SCEC BAYS AND OFFSHORE WATERS TONIGHT.

35/37/39

PRELIMS...
CLL EB 056/067 051/074 055 910
IAH EB 059/068 053/073 056 910
GLS EB 066/072 063/073 066 920

The office that day

Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 5, 10:54 AM CDTSpecial Marine WarningHGX96 min
Oct 5, 10:54 AM CDTSpecial Marine WarningHGX96 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.