Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002
Severe Thunderstorm Warning 37, NWS Brownsville, TX
NWS Brownsville, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 20, 2002, 4:17 PM CDT for Cameron County, Hidalgo County, Texas. It was in force for 103 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.
The area
The outline as issued, with what was reported inside it.
The facts
- Issued
- Oct 20, 2002, 4:17 PM CDT (21:17 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 20, 2002, 6:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 103 min
- Issued by
- NWS Brownsville, TX
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
Counties Cameron County, TX, Hidalgo County, TX
The radar
The Brownsville radar (KBRO), 77 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:21 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.
What was reported inside it
| Time | Report | Where | Remark |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 20, 6:03 PM CDT | Hail 0.75 | Weslaco, TX | A weather spotter reported 3/4 inch hail. |
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.
Did it verify
Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.
Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.
The nearest sounding before it
Brownsville Intl, TX (KBRO), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 79 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 1974 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -8 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 724 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 22 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 34 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 86 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.4
- Supercell composite
- 3.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WUUS54 KBRO 202117 SVRBRO TXC061-215-202230- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 415 PM CDT SUN OCT 20 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BROWNSVILLE HAS ISSUED A * SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR... WESTERN CAMERON COUNTY IN DEEP SOUTH TEXAS SOUTHEASTERN HIDALGO COUNTY IN DEEP SOUTH TEXAS * UNTIL 530 PM CDT * AT 414 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM NEAR PROGRESO...OR NEAR MERCEDES...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 15 MPH. THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL LIKELY PRODUCE HAIL TO THE SIZE OF NICKELS... AND WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH. * THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR... MERCEDES BY 425 PM CDT. LA FERIA BY 445 PM CDT. EDCOUCH BY 450 PM CDT. SANTA ROSA BY 500 PM CDT. IF SEVERE WEATHER APPROACHES YOUR AREA...GO INSIDE A STURDY SHELTER AWAY FROM WINDOWS. REMEMBER...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS PRODUCE LARGE DAMAGING HAIL...DAMAGING WINDS...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING...AND VERY HEAVY RAIN. IN ADDITION TO HAIL AND DAMAGING WINDS...FREQUENT CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING IS OCCURRING WITH THIS STORM. MOVE INDOORS IMMEDIATELY. REMEMBER...IF YOU CAN HEAR THUNDER...YOU ARE CLOSE ENOUGH TO BE STRUCK BY LIGHTNING. LAT...LON 2609 9809 2598 9794 2623 9765 2634 9796 PHILO
What forecasters said that day
The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Brownsville, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Oct 20, 2:50 PM CDT, 1 hour 27 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Oct 20, 2:50 PM CDT, 1 hour 27 minutes before
DEEP SOUTH TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 250 PM CDT SUN OCT 20 2002 .SHORT TERM...THE UPPER LEVEL LOW HAS CONTINUED ON ITS EASTWARD PROGRESSION AND IS CURRENTLY OVER ARKANSAS. AT THE SURFACE...A COLD FRONT EXTENDS FROM AR THROUGH THE TX HILL COUNTRY...WHILE A SURFACE TROUGH EXTENDS FROM LA THROUGH THE WEST GULF OF MEX WATERS AND BACK ON SHORE NEAR BRO. THIS BOUNDARY IS EXPECTED TO WEAKEN TODAY... ALLOWING THE WINDS TO BECOME MORE UNIFORM AND SOUTHEASTERLY. THIS WEAKENING BOUNDARY AS WELL AS THE RRQ OF THE UPPER LEVEL JET WILL AID IN UVV TONIGHT. PLUS WITH PWATS APPROACHING 2 IN...ADEQUATE MOISTURE APPEARS TO BE IN PLACE FOR SHOWER/THUNDERSTORM DEVELOPMENT. AVN AND ETA BOTH HAVE PRECIP. TONIGHT FOR THE AREA...HOWEVER...BY MONDAY THE ETA KEEPS MOST OF THE PRECIP TO THE NORTH. THE AVN HAS STRONGER OVERRUNNING/ISENTROPIC LIFT TO THE NORTH AS WELL AS MORE PRECIP. BELIEVE BEST CHANCE WILL BE IN THE MORNING AS GREATEST UVV SHIFTS FROM DEPSOTX TO LA BY MON. NIGHT. MODELS TRENDING DRIER FOR TUES...WILL ADJUST ZONES TO REFLECT THIS CHANGE. .EXTENDED...AN UPPER LEVEL LOW WILL TRAVERSE THE SOUTHERN U.S. IN THE WEST-SOUTHWESTERLY FLOW REACHING TEXAS BY FRIDAY. AT THE SURFACE...ONSHORE FLOW WILL CONTINUE UNTIL LATE FRIDAY WHEN THE ASSOCIATED COLD FRONT IS EXPECTED TO MAKE IT INTO SOUTH TEXAS...WHETHER OR NOT IT WILL REACH DEPSOTX IS STILL IN QUESTION. OTHERWISE...MOST OF THE WEEK SEEMS RELATIVELY DRY. .MARINE DISCUSSION...THE POTENTIAL FOR ISOLATED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE OVER THE COASTAL WATERS THROUGH MID WEEK...AS MOIST GULF AIR IS DESTABILIZED BY CONDITIONS ALOFT. THE AVN IS MORE AGGRESSIVE WITH RAINFALL AREAL COVERAGE AND AMOUNT. WINDS WILL REMAIN LIGHT TO MODERATE FROM THE SOUTHEAST...WITH SEAS MODERATE AS WELL. NO FLAGS ARE EXPECTED IN THE SHORT TERM. BY MID WEEK A COLD FRONT PUSHES SOUTH INTO CENTRAL AND EAST TEXAS...AND THE AVN THEN DEVELOPS DEEPENING SURFACE LOW PRESSURE IN EAST TEXAS LATE IN THE WEEK. IF THIS VERIFIES...WINDS WILL INCREASE OVER THE LOWER TEXAS COASTAL WATERS TOWARD THE END OF THE WEEK...THOUGH SMALL CRAFT ADVISORIES STILL APPEAR MARGINAL AT THIS POINT. PRELIMINARY NUMBERS... BRO EE 072/085 072/086 072 50/30/20/20/00 HRL EE 070/085 070/086 071 50/30/20/20/00 MFE EE 070/086 070/087 070 50/30/20/20/00 RGC EE 069/086 068/088 068 50/30/20/20/00 SPI EE 076/081 074/080 075 30/20/20/20/00 SYNOPTIC...63 AVIATION-MARINE-MESO...54 INTERNET ADDRESS...WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/BRO .BRO...NONE.
Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 20, 6:15 AM CDT, 10 hours 2 minutes before
TXZ248>257-211100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX 615 AM CDT SUN OCT 20 2002 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR DEEP SOUTH TEXAS. .DAY ONE... SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TODAY AND TONIGHT. THESE THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD REMAIN BELOW SEVERE CRITERIA...BUT MAY PRODUCE ENOUGH RAINFALL TO PRODUCE FLOODING OF URBAN AREAS OR SMALL STREAMS. .SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION WILL NOT BE NEEDED TODAY AND TONIGHT. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN... NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Brownsville, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 19, 7:37 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BRO | Brooks, Kenedy | 68 min |
| Oct 19, 8:16 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BRO | Brooks | 21 hr |
| Oct 20, 4:29 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BRO | Kenedy | 31 min |
| Oct 20, 4:32 PM CDT | Special Marine Warning | BRO | 58 min | |
| Oct 20, 4:32 PM CDT | Special Marine Warning | BRO | 58 min | |
| Oct 20, 5:02 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BRO | Kenedy, Willacy | 28 min |
| Oct 20, 5:06 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BRO | Cameron, Hidalgo, Willacy | 84 min |
| Oct 20, 5:24 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BRO | Cameron, Hidalgo, Willacy | 81 min |
| Oct 20, 5:29 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BRO | Hidalgo | 31 min |
| Oct 20, 5:41 PM CDT | Special Marine Warning | BRO | 2 hr | |
| Oct 20, 5:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BRO | Cameron, Willacy | 69 min |
| Oct 20, 6:17 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BRO | Cameron, Hidalgo, Kenedy, Willacy | 88 min |
| Oct 20, 6:38 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | BRO | Cameron | 37 min |
| Oct 20, 6:58 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | BRO | Cameron | 47 min |
Nearby
Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 2002Every severe thunderstorm warning in 2002
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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.