Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 45, NWS Brownsville, TX

October 20, 2002Hidalgo County, Willacy County, Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Oct 20, 2002, 8:44 PM CDT for Hidalgo County, Willacy County, Texas. It was in force for 44 hr. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Oct 20, 2002, 8:44 PM CDT (01:44 UTC)
Expired: Oct 22, 2002, 4:15 PM CDT
In force: 44 hr
Issued by: NWS Brownsville, TX
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Hidalgo County, TX, Willacy County, TX

The radar

The Brownsville radar (KBRO), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:47 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.

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 00:00Z, 1.7 hours before the alert went out and 94 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: 2087 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -2 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 777 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 37 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 3 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 33 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.4
Supercell composite: 2.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS54 KBRO 210144
SVRBRO
TXC215-489-210230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
844 PM CDT SUN OCT 20 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BROWNSVILLE HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  NORTHWESTERN WILLACY COUNTY IN DEEP SOUTH TEXAS
  EASTERN HIDALGO COUNTY IN DEEP SOUTH TEXAS

* UNTIL 930 PM CDT

* AT 835 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 7 MILES WEST OF RAYMONDVILLE...MOVING EAST AT
  15 MPH. THIS SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL LIKELY PRODUCE HAIL TO THE
  SIZE OF QUARTERS... AND WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH.

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
   RAYMONDVILLE BY 855 PM CDT.

STAY TUNED TO LOCAL MEDIA OUTLETS...SUCH AS RADIO...TELEVISION...
CABLE TELEVISION...AND NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST SEVERE
WEATHER INFORMATION.

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY. THEY
WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE OFFICE.

LAT...LON 2655 9798 2638 9793 2646 9765 2659 9782

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, 8:30 PM CDT, 14 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 20, 8:30 PM CDT, 14 minutes before

DEEP SOUTH TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
830 PM CDT SUN OCT 20 2002

.SHORT TERM...RRQ OF UPR JET ALONG WITH SFC BOUNDARY REAPED ALL OF
THE 4K J/KG CAPE IN ATM TNGT. SVR TSTMS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP.

ZFPBRO UPDATED FOR CURRENT WX.

.MARINE DISCUSSION...THE POTENTIAL FOR ISOLATED 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.

SYNOPTIC...PHILO (58)
AVIATION-MARINE-MESO...HARO/ABBOTT

INTERNET ADDRESS...WWW.SRH.NOAA.GOV/BRO

.BRO...URBAN SMALL STREAM FLOOD ADV TXC215 THRU 0230Z.

Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 20, 5:35 PM CDT, 3 hours 9 minutes before

TXZ248>257-211100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
535 PM CDT SUN OCT 20 2002

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR DEEP SOUTH TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS HAVE DEVELOPED ALONG A SURFACE TROUGH OF
LOW PRESSURE. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED ACROSS THE REGION
TONIGHT. SOME STORMS COULD BE SEVERE...PRODUCING TORRENTIAL
DOWNPOURS...DAMAGING WINDS...AND LARGE HAIL. ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS
ALSO HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO PRODUCE TORNADOES.

.SPOTTER CALL TO ACTION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NEEDED AT THIS TIME OVER HIDALGO...WILLACY AND
CAMERON COUNTIES. EMERGENCY MANAGERS ARE ASKED TO MONITOR WEATHER
CONDITIONS CLOSELY.

.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 20, 7:23 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Cameron	82 min
Oct 20, 8:00 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Hidalgo	90 min
Oct 20, 9:05 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BRO	Willacy	3 hr
Oct 20, 9:35 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BRO	Hidalgo	3 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 2002 Every 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.