Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 15, NWS Corpus Christi, TX

December 23, 2002La Salle County, McMullen County, Texas

NWS Corpus Christi, TX issued this tornado warning at Dec 23, 2002, 6:45 PM CST for La Salle County, McMullen County, Texas. It was in force for 45 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 23, 2002, 6:45 PM CST (00:45 UTC)
Expired: Dec 23, 2002, 7:30 PM CST
In force: 45 min
Issued by: NWS Corpus Christi, TX
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties La Salle County, TX, McMullen County, TX

The radar

The Corpus Christi radar (KCRP), 134 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:48 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 23, 7:00 PM CST	Hail 0.75	Tilden, TX

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 23, 3:35 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 00:00Z, 0.8 hours before the alert went out and 152 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: 2559 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -59 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 644 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 75 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 85 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 104 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 1.2
Supercell composite: 4.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KCRP 240045
TORCRP
TXC283-311-240130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE CORPUS CHRISTI TX
642 PM CST MON DEC 23 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN CORPUS CHRISTI HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN LA SALLE COUNTY IN TEXAS
  MCMULLEN COUNTY IN TEXAS

* UNTIL 730 PM CST

* AT 637 PM CST...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A 
SEVERE THUNDERSTRORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO. THE MOST 
DANGEROUS PORTION OF THE STORM WAS LOCATED 25 MILES EAST OF 
ENCINAL...MOVING EAST AT 45 TO 50 MPH. ANOTHER RAPIDLY DEVELOPING 
STORM WAS MOVING INTO MCMULLEN COUNTY ABOUT 20 MILES SOUTHWEST OF 
TILDEN. 

IF NO UNDERGROUND SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...MOVE INTO AN INTERIOR ROOM 
ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF A STURDY STRUCTURE.

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 800 PM CST MONDAY
EVENING FOR TEXAS.

LAT...LON 2821 9916 2805 9895 2812 9836 2837 9838
          2863 9838 2864 9874

$

PURPURA

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Dec 23, 6:17 PM CST	Tornado Warning	CRP	La Salle	28 min
Dec 23, 6:20 PM CST	Tornado Warning	CRP	La Salle	25 min
Dec 23, 7:24 PM CST	Tornado Warning	CRP	Live Oak	36 min
Dec 23, 7:38 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CRP		52 min
Dec 23, 8:22 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CRP		38 min
Dec 23, 9:00 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CRP		30 min
Dec 23, 9:24 PM CST	Special Marine Warning	CRP		2 hr
Dec 23, 9:24 PM CST	Special Marine Warning	CRP		2 hr
Dec 23, 9:59 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	CRP		31 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.