Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 39, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

December 16, 2001Polk County, Trinity County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Dec 16, 2001, 5:26 PM CST for Polk County, Trinity County, Texas. It was in force for 49 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
Dec 16, 2001, 5:26 PM CST (23:26 UTC)
Expired
Dec 16, 2001, 6:15 PM CST
In force
49 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Polk County, TX, Trinity County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 168 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:28 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Dec 16, 1:45 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 199 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 2001-12-16Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1253 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°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 2001-12-16The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 194 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
1253 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-3 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
447 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
31 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
194 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
237 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
1.2
Supercell composite
8.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

400 
WFUS54 KHGX 162326
TORHOU
TXC373-455-170015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
526 PM CST SUN DEC 16 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  TRINITY COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
  POLK COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS

* UNTIL 615 PM CST

* AT 518 PM CST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF
  PRODUCING A TORNADO 9 MILES SOUTHWEST OF ONALASKA...MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 30 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE...
  LAKE LIVINGSTON
  ONALASKA

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 3122 9495 3107 9475 3072 9513 3079 9513
          3086 9523

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 16, 4:52 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXMontgomery, San Jacinto, Walker38 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.