Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 11, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX

March 19, 2002Bexar County, Guadalupe County, Wilson County, Texas

NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this tornado warning at Mar 19, 2002, 7:51 PM CST for Bexar County, Guadalupe County, Wilson County, Texas. It was in force for 54 min. 2 reports 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: Mar 19, 2002, 7:51 PM CST (01:51 UTC)
Expired: Mar 19, 2002, 8:45 PM CST
In force: 54 min
Issued by: NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Bexar County, TX, Guadalupe County, TX, Wilson County, TX

The radar

The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 40 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 01:54 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
Mar 19, 8:10 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind	Countywide, TX	Severe winds, estimated at 60 to 70 knots, caused spotty damage across much of Wilson County. The worst of the damage was in the northern part of the county, where trees and tree limbs were blown down, roofs were damaged, and outbuildings were blown over.
Mar 19, 8:30 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind	Countywide, TX	High winds across the county caused widespread damage to homes, trees and outbuildings. Damage in the south part of the county was more spotty than over the north part. An anemometer at a school weather network in Seguin measured the wind gusts at 59 knots. N

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
Mar 19, 3:30 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	6 hr
Mar 19, 7:45 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	4 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 00:00Z, 1.9 hours before the alert went out and 204 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: 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 200151
TORSAT
TXC029-187-493-200245-

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

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 845 PM CST

* AT 749 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A   
THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG SIGNS THAT A TORNADO IS PRESENT IN SOUTH 
SAN ANTONIO...  MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH.

* THE TORNADO PRODUCING STORM IS EXPECTED TO MOVE EASTWARD INTO 
GUADALUPE AND WILSON COUNTIES AFTER 800 PM.  

POWER IS OUT IN PARTS OF SAN ANTONIO AND MOBILE HOMES DAMAGED.  
LARGE HAIL HAS ALSO BEEN REPORTED.  THIS IS A VERY DANGEROUS STORM.  


LAT...LON 2950 9844 2917 9842 2903 9804 2976 9784

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 19, 6:08 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EWX	Uvalde	52 min
Mar 19, 6:18 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EWX	Zavala	42 min
Mar 19, 6:23 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EWX	Burnet	52 min
Mar 19, 6:25 PM CST	Tornado Warning	EWX	Frio, Zavala	35 min
Mar 19, 6:39 PM CST	Tornado Warning	EWX	Medina, Uvalde	51 min
Mar 19, 7:03 PM CST	Tornado Warning	EWX	Bexar	57 min
Mar 19, 7:30 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EWX	Atascosa, Frio	60 min
Mar 19, 7:58 PM CST	Tornado Warning	EWX	Dimmit, Maverick	62 min
Mar 19, 8:05 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EWX	Comal	25 min
Mar 19, 8:14 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EWX	Hays	61 min
Mar 19, 8:20 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EWX	Gonzales	55 min
Mar 19, 8:33 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EWX	Bastrop, Caldwell, Travis	57 min
Mar 19, 9:00 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EWX	Dimmit	60 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.