Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

March 19, 2002Bexar County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this tornado warning at Mar 19, 2002, 7:03 PM CST for Bexar County, Texas. It was in force for 57 min. 10 reports came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued
Mar 19, 2002, 7:03 PM CST (01:03 UTC)
Expired
Mar 19, 2002, 8:00 PM CST
In force
57 min
Issued by
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area
Whole counties

County Bexar County, TX

The radar

The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 55 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:07 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Mar 19, 7:15 PM CSTThunderstorm Wind 70 MSan Antonio Intl Arp, TX
Mar 19, 7:15 PM CSTThunderstorm WindCountywide, TXHigh winds, causing spotty damage over the western third of Bexar County, and nearly continuous damage over the eastern two-thirds of the county, caused widespread destruction of trees and limbs. The high winds damaged roofs, propelled hail into homes and car
Mar 19, 7:15 PM CSTTornado F0Von Ormy, TXTornado number one, an F0 on the Fujita Scale, formed near 715 pm at the intersection of Greenwood Road and Gridley Road. It moved toward the southeast for one mile, then dissipated. The path width was 20 yards. It damaged roofs and walls of mobile homes an
Mar 19, 7:17 PM CSTTornado F0Von Ormy, TXTornado number two, also an F0, formed near 717 pm at the intersection of Jarrett Road and Gridley Road. It also tracked toward the southeast, dissipating after one-half mile. Its path width was also estimated at 20 yards. It damaged roofs of mobile homes a
Mar 19, 7:17 PM CSTTornado F1Von Ormy, TXTornado number three, an F1 on the Fujita Scale, also formed around 717 pm at the intersection of Ess Road and Jarrett Road. It moved toward the southeast, dissipating after one-half mile. Its path width was estimated at 20 yards. It destroyed a mobile home
Mar 19, 7:19 PM CSTTornado F1Von Ormy, TXTornado number four, another F1, formed 1 mile east of the intersection of Ess road and Jarrett Road around 719 pm. It moved toward the southeast, dissipating after one mile. Its path width was estimated at 50 yards. It struck three mobile homes that had be
Mar 19, 7:20 PM CSTTornado F2Somerset, TXTornado number five, strongest of the six and rated as a minimal F2 tornado on the Fujita Scale, formed about 3.5 miles southwest of the intersection of Loop 1604 and I35. It struck near 720 pm along near Silver Street and Bravo Street and moved toward the no
Mar 19, 7:25 PM CSTTornado F1Somerset, TXTornado number six, struck just east of Somerset on SH16, about one mile north of Loop 1604. It was rated F1 on the Fujita Scale, and tracked toward the southeast. It damaged a large barn and several outbuildings at a construction site as it moved approximat
Mar 19, 7:30 PM CSTHail 2San Antonio, TX
Mar 19, 7:35 PM CSTHail 1.75San Antonio, 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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Mar 19, 3:30 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 00:00Z, 1.1 hours before the alert went out and 223 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 00:00Z on 2002-03-20Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 932 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Corpus Christi, TX at 00:00Z on 2002-03-20The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 130 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
932 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-500 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1142 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
34 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
130 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
114 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KEWX 200103
TORSAT
TXC029-200200-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX
702 PM CST TUE MAR 19 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN TEXAS...
  BEXAR

* UNTIL 800 PM CST

* AT 702 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A   
THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG SIGNS THAT A TORNADO IS DEVELOPING ABOUT 5 
MILES NORTHEAST OF HONDO...  MOVING EAST AT 50 MPH.

* THE TORNADO PRODUCING STORM IS EXPECTED TO CROSS THE BEXAR COUNTY 
LINE AROUND 715 PM.
  

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.
STAY ALERT TO THE POSSIBILITY OF FLASH FLOODING.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 19, 6:08 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXUvalde52 min
Mar 19, 6:18 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXZavala42 min
Mar 19, 6:23 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBurnet52 min
Mar 19, 6:25 PM CSTTornado WarningEWXFrio, Zavala35 min
Mar 19, 6:39 PM CSTTornado WarningEWXMedina, Uvalde51 min
Mar 19, 7:30 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXAtascosa, Frio60 min
Mar 19, 7:51 PM CSTTornado WarningEWXBexar, Guadalupe, Wilson54 min
Mar 19, 7:58 PM CSTTornado WarningEWXDimmit, Maverick62 min
Mar 19, 8:05 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXComal25 min
Mar 19, 8:14 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXHays61 min
Mar 19, 8:20 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXGonzales55 min
Mar 19, 8:33 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXBastrop, Caldwell, Travis57 min
Mar 19, 9:00 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningEWXDimmit60 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; verification from NCEI's Storm Data; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.