Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2001

Tornado Warning 42, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

December 28, 2001Chambers County, Liberty County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Dec 28, 2001, 2:09 AM CST for Chambers County, Liberty County, Texas. It was in force for 51 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 28, 2001, 2:09 AM CST (08:09 UTC)
Expired: Dec 28, 2001, 3:00 AM CST
In force: 51 min
Issued by: NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area: Whole counties; the outline is the Mesonet’s reconstruction

Counties Chambers County, TX, Liberty County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 57 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 08:13 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 00:00Z, 8.2 hours before the alert went out and 154 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 1727 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 39 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 66 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 135 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.

682 
WFUS54 KHGX 280809
TORHOU
TXC071-291-280900-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
209 AM CST FRI DEC 28 2001

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  LIBERTY COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
  CHAMBERS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS

* UNTIL 300 AM CST

* AT 207 AM CST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF
  PRODUCING A TORNADO 5 MILES NORTHWEST OF MONT BELVIEU...MOVING EAST
  AT 35 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE...
  MONT BELVIEU
  COVE
  WALLISVILLE
  HANKAMER
  DEVERS

TORNADOES AT NIGHT ARE ESPECIALLY DANGEROUS. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL YOU
SEE OR HEAR THE TORNADO - TAKE COVER 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 2998 9500 2981 9491 2975 9447 3003 9451

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 Dec 27, 8:42 PM CST, 5 hours 27 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 27, 8:42 PM CST, 5 hours 27 minutes before

SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
842 PM CST THU DEC 27 2001

SOME SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE BEEN DEVELOPING AROUND AND SOUTH
OF MATAGORDA BAY FOR THE PAST FEW HOURS. EXPECT ACTIVITY TO PERSIST
IN THIS AREA AND MOVE NORTH AND NORTHEAST INTO OUR FORECAST AREA
(ESPECIALLY COASTAL LOCATIONS) IN RESPONSE TO THE SHORTWAVE MOVING
THROUGH EAST TEXAS AND A SOMEWHAT FAVORABLE UPPER LEVEL JET
STRUCTURE. THE BULK OF ACTIVITY COULD END UP JUST GRAZING THE
COASTAL COUNTIES AND MAY EVEN REMAIN OFFSHORE. WILL UPDATE TONIGHTS
POPS AND CALL FOR 30% FOR THE ENTIRE COAST AND 20% TO 30% MOST
INLAND LOCATIONS. TONIGHTS LOW TEMPERATURES MAY BE A BIT TRICKY
CONSIDERING THE EXTENSIVE CLOUD COVER IN PLACE. THE PREDICTIONS
BELOW LOOK REASONABLE AND WILL MAKE NO CHANGES.

WILL RETAIN SCEC CONDITIONS 20-60NM WATERS...BUT MAY MAKE SOME
CHANCES ON THE 930 PM UPDATE.

42/47/DO

.HGX...SMALL CRAFT EXERCISE CAUTION ALL WATERS 20-60 NM OFFSHORE.

UPDATED PRELIMS (NO CHANGES)...
CLL UB 044/065 038/057 032 100
IAH UB 048/067 042/060 034 310
GLS UB 056/065 051/059 041 310

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 27, 10:51 PM CST	Special Marine Warning	HGX		114 min
Dec 28, 2:21 AM CST	Special Marine Warning	HGX		39 min

Nearby

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