Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Brownsville, TX

December 30, 2002Brooks County, Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this tornado warning at Dec 30, 2002, 5:35 PM CST for Brooks County, Texas. It was in force for 40 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: Dec 30, 2002, 5:35 PM CST (23:35 UTC)
Expired: Dec 30, 2002, 6:15 PM CST
In force: 40 min
Issued by: NWS Brownsville, TX
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Brooks County, TX

The radar

The Corpus Christi radar (KCRP), 92 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:37 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
Dec 30, 5:52 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind 60 EG	Falfurrias, TX	40 to 60 foot auger blown over by strong winds in a thunderstorm.

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.

The watch it was issued in

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Dec 30, 4:35 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 103 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: 302 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -271 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 652 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 46 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 234 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 154 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

345 
WFUS54 KBRO 302335
TORBRO
TXC047-310015-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
534 PM CST MON DEC 30 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BROWNSVILLE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHERN BROOKS COUNTY IN DEEP SOUTH TEXAS

* UNTIL 615 PM CST

* AT 523 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 9 MILES WEST OF
  FALFURRIAS...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
   FALFURRIAS BY 540 PM CST.

WHEN A TORNADO WARNING IS ISSUED BASED ON DOPPLER RADAR...IT MEANS
THAT STRONG ROTATION HAS BEEN DETECTED IN THE STORM. A TORNADO MAY
ALREADY BE ON THE GROUND...OR IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP SHORTLY. IF YOU
ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS DANGEROUS STORM...MOVE INDOORS AND TO THE
LOWEST LEVEL OF THE BUILDING. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF DRIVING...DO
NOT SEEK SHELTER UNDER A HIGHWAY OVERPASS.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

LAT...LON 2725 9840 2711 9838 2711 9800 2763 9806

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 30, 4:56 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Jim Hogg, Zapata	34 min
Dec 30, 5:01 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Jim Hogg, Starr, Zapata	44 min
Dec 30, 5:09 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BRO	Jim Hogg, Zapata	51 min
Dec 30, 5:12 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BRO	Brooks, Jim Hogg, Starr, Zapata	48 min
Dec 30, 5:59 PM CST	Tornado Warning	BRO	Brooks, Hidalgo, Kenedy	46 min

Nearby

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