Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 35, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

November 26, 2001Austin County, Waller County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Nov 26, 2001, 11:10 PM CST for Austin County, Waller County, Texas. It was in force for 65 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
Nov 26, 2001, 11:10 PM CST (05:10 UTC)
Expired
Nov 27, 2001, 12:15 AM CST
In force
65 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Austin County, TX, Waller County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 103 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:12 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

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 00:00Z, 5.2 hours before the alert went out and 261 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 00:00Z on 2001-11-27Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2283 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 00:00Z on 2001-11-27The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 136 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
2283 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-30 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
841 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
136 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
143 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.6
Supercell composite
9.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

098 
WFUS54 KHGX 270511
TORHOU
TXC015-473-270615-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
1110 PM CST MON NOV 26 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WALLER COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
  AUSTIN COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS

* UNTIL 1215 AM CST

* AT 1107 PM CST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF
  PRODUCING A TORNADO 4 MILES SOUTHEAST OF SEALY...MOVING NORTHEAST
  AT 20 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE...
  INTERSTATE 10 BETWEEN BROOKSHIRE AND SEALY
  SAN FELIPE
  WADSWORTH
  MONAVILLE

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 2974 9619 2969 9610 2986 9588 2998 9603

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 Nov 26, 10:10 PM CST, 1 hour earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Nov 26, 10:10 PM CST, 1 hour before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
1010 PM CST MON NOV 26 2001

SEVERAL ISSUES TO CONTEND WITH TONIGHT INCLUDING RAIN CHANCES...
SEVERE POTENTIAL AND WIND SHIFT. OVERALL COVERAGE OF PRECIP WILL
REMAIN HIGH THROUGH WEDNESDAY BUT AM NOT CONFIDENT WITH SEVERE
THREAT TONIGHT. WET BULB ZERO IS STILL AOA 12K FT SO HAIL THREAT
SHOULD REMAIN MINIMAL. CAPES ARE NOT REAL HIGH AND HELICITY VALUES
ARE ALSO ON THE LIGHT SIDE. A LAYER OF DRY AIR ABOVE 85H DOES FAVOR
SOME DOWNBURST POTENTIAL. SVR WATCH RUNS UNTIL 1 AM...SO WILL
CONTINUE TO MONITOR. WHAT IS OF SOME CONCERN IS THE TRAINING OF
ECHOES WHICH HAS BEGUN TO DEVELOP. IF THIS TREND CONTINUES...SOME
LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN WILL OCCUR. AMOUNTS OF 2 TO 3 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE
BY MORNING (MAYBE HIGHER) IF THIS SITUATION PERSISTS. WILL UPDATE
ZONES TO RAISE RAIN CHANCES AND ADD LOCALLY HEAVY RAIN.

TUESDAY INTO WEDNESDAY LOOK RATHER DISTURBING. PWS REMAIN AOA 1.2
INCHES WITH AN INVERTED TROF DEVELOPING ALONG THE COAST. COLD FRONT
APPROACHING THE AREA WILL STALL NEAR THE COAST AS IT BECOMES
PARALLEL TO THE UPPER FLOW. OVER-RUNNING (I KNOW?) PRECIP TO DEVELOP
INLAND AS SOUTHERLY 85H WINDS OF 40 KNOTS OVERRIDE 15 KT NORTHERLY
SURFACE WINDS. SE TX ALSO LIES IN A RRQ OF A DEPARTING 120 KT JET
MAX THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT WHICH WILL FURTHER ENHANCE PRECIP
POTENTIAL. SINCE WET BULB ZERO TEMPS ARE COOLER AND LAPSE RATES
REMAIN CONDITIONALLY UNSTABLE...FEEL POTENTIAL WILL INCREASE FOR
HAIL THREAT.

IF THIS ISNT ENOUGH...00Z ETA MODEL SHOWS ENOUGH LIFT...SATURATION
AND COLD TEMPERATURES THAT A MIX OF SLEET...FREEZING RAIN AND SNOW
IS POSSIBLE OVER THE NORTHERN ZONES OF SE TX. WAY TOO EARLY TO TELL
BUT SOUNDING DATA SUPPORTS A MIX NORTH OF HOUSTON AND POSSIBLY SNOW
NEAR CLL BEFORE PRECIP ENDS THURSDAY MORNING. ANY PRECIP WHICH FALLS
AT THIS TIME WILL BE LIGHT. WHAT A WEEK

.HGX...SCEC GULF WATERS OUT 20-60 NM.
       SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH THROUGH 07Z FOR NORTH HALF OF CWA.
43/47

PRELIMS...
CLL TR 053/054 040/045 031 559
IAH TR 068/068 047/048 034 557
GLS TR 069/072 054/056 041 557

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Nov 26, 8:00 PM CST, 3 hours 10 minutes before
TXZ163-164-176>179-196-198>200-213-214-270700-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
800 PM CST MON NOV 26 2001

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT FOR THE NORTHERN
HALF OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS UNTIL 1 AM TUESDAY MORNING...

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH
FOR PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS THROUGH 1 AM TUESDAY MORNING. THE
FOLLOWING COUNTIES ARE INCLUDED IN THE WATCH:

BRAZOS...CHAMBERS...GRIMES...HARRIS...HOUSTON...LIBERTY...MADISON
MONTGOMERY...POLK...SAN JACINTO...TRINITY AND WALKER. THE WATCH DOES
INCLUDE THE BRYAN-COLLEGE STATION AND THE HOUSTON METROPOLITAN AREAS.

CONDITIONS REMAIN FAVORABLE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP IN
AND NEAR THE WATCH AREA. THE PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER THREAT TONIGHT
WILL BE LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING STRAIGHT LINE WINDS. BE PREPARED TO
TAKE ACTION IF SEVERE WEATHER WATCHES OR WARNINGS ARE ISSUED.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER WEATHER NEWS SOURCES FOR
FURTHER UPDATES ON THIS SEVERE WEATHER THREAT.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Nov 26, 6:06 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXLiberty39 min
Nov 26, 10:50 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXMontgomery55 min
Nov 27, 1:10 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXMontgomery, Polk, San Jacinto3 hr
Nov 27, 4:13 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXMontgomery, San Jacinto2 hr
Nov 27, 6:30 AM CSTFlash Flood WarningHGXLiberty3 hr
Nov 27, 2:48 PM CSTSpecial Marine WarningHGX117 min
Nov 27, 4:43 PM CSTSpecial Marine WarningHGX2 hr

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.