Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Brownsville, TX

May 17, 2002Zapata County, Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this tornado warning at May 17, 2002, 6:28 PM CDT for Zapata County, Texas. It was in force for 32 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
May 17, 2002, 6:28 PM CDT (23:28 UTC)
Expired
May 17, 2002, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Brownsville, TX
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Zapata County, TX

The radar

The Corpus Christi radar (KCRP), 216 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:29 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 12:00Z, 11.5 hours before the alert went out and 229 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 12:00Z on 2002-05-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1839 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 2002-05-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 272 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
1839 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-146 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
894 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
47 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
272 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
311 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
3.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KBRO 172328
TORBRO
TXC505-180000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
626 PM CDT FRI MAY 17 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  ZAPATA COUNTY IN SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS

* UNTIL 700 PM CDT

* AT 630 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WITH A DEVELOPING TORNADO 33 MILES WEST OF     
  ZAPATA...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH. ALSO...A SEVERE               
  THUNDERSTORM OVER CENTRAL ZAPATA COUNTY WILL COLLIDE WITH THIS     
  TORNADIC THUNDERSTORM FROM ADJACENT MEXICO.

* THE TORNADO WILL REMAIN OVER MAINLY RURAL AREAS OF...
  ZAPATA COUNTY.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IN IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR IN AN INTERIOR HALLWAY
OR CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO COVER YOUR BODY.

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

LAT...LON 2696 9975 2669 9950 2680 9897 2730 9943

PHILO

The office that day

Everything else NWS Brownsville, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 17, 5:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROJim Hogg, Zapata44 min
May 17, 6:02 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningBROJim Hogg, Zapata58 min
May 17, 6:17 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningBROJim Hogg, Zapata3 hr
May 17, 6:58 PM CDTTornado WarningBROZapata32 min

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 2002Every tornado warning in 2002Tornadoes 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.