Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2002
Tornado Warning 45, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this tornado warning at Dec 30, 2002, 2:05 PM CST for Bexar County, Texas. It was in force for 55 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, 2:05 PM CST (20:05 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 30, 2002, 3:00 PM CST
- In force
- 55 min
- Issued by
- NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Bexar County, TX
The radar
The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 60 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:08 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, 2:37 PM CST | Tornado F0 | Helotes, TX | A small tornado was spotted by a Helotes Fireman who was also a Skywarn Amateur Radio Spotter. It was small and dipped down briefly before lifting and dissipating. No damage was indicated. |
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, 12:00 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | 6 hr |
The nearest sounding before it
Del Rio, TX (KDRT), launched 12:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 215 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 333 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -495 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1056 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 64 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 269 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 311 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
839 WFUS54 KEWX 302005 TORSAT TXC029-302100- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 205 PM CST MON DEC 30 2002 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN AUSTIN SAN ANTONIO HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR THE FOLLOWING COUNTIES IN TEXAS... BEXAR * UNTIL 300 PM CST * AT 205 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG SIGNS THAT A TORNADO IS DEVELOPING 4 MILES WEST OF HELOTES...OR ABOUT 10 MILES NORTHWEST OF LEON VALLEY... MOVING NORTHEAST AT 35 MPH. * THE TORNADO PRODUCING STORM IS EXPECTED TO BE... OVER CROSS MOUNTAIN AT 215 PM OVER DOMINION AT 220 PM 6 MILES NORTHWEST OF HOLLYWOOD PARK AT 225 PM OVER TIMBERWOOD PARK AT 230 PM LAT...LON 2967 9879 2946 9879 2955 9831 2974 9852 $$
The office that day
Everything else NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 30, 1:26 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Kerr, Real | 64 min |
| Dec 30, 1:48 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Burnet, Williamson | 42 min |
| Dec 30, 1:53 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Medina | 37 min |
| Dec 30, 1:57 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Bexar | 63 min |
| Dec 30, 2:26 PM CST | Tornado Warning | EWX | Comal | 64 min |
| Dec 30, 3:05 PM CST | Tornado Warning | EWX | Hays | 55 min |
| Dec 30, 3:18 PM CST | Tornado Warning | EWX | Caldwell | 57 min |
| Dec 30, 3:28 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Bexar | 62 min |
| Dec 30, 3:29 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Travis | 61 min |
| Dec 30, 3:50 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Guadalupe | 55 min |
| Dec 30, 3:53 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Comal | 52 min |
| Dec 30, 3:58 PM CST | Tornado Warning | EWX | Bastrop | 62 min |
| Dec 30, 3:59 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Williamson | 61 min |
| Dec 30, 4:22 PM CST | Tornado Warning | EWX | Williamson | 53 min |
| Dec 30, 5:00 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | EWX | Gonzales | 60 min |
| Dec 30, 5:11 PM CST | Tornado Warning | EWX | Bastrop, Fayette, Lee | 64 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.