Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2002
Tornado Warning 48, NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX issued this tornado warning at Dec 30, 2002, 3:18 PM CST for Caldwell County, Texas. It was in force for 57 min. 1 report 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
- Dec 30, 2002, 3:18 PM CST (21:18 UTC)
- Expired
- Dec 30, 2002, 4:15 PM CST
- In force
- 57 min
- Issued by
- NWS Austin/San Antonio, TX
- Area
- Whole counties
County Caldwell County, TX
The radar
The Austin/San Antonio radar (KEWX), 42 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 21:18 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, 4:10 PM CST | Tornado F0 | Lockhart, TX | A short-lived and small F0 tornado was spotted by an Amateur Radio Operator in an open area 4 miles northwest of Lockhart. The tornado remained on the ground for approximately two minutes, while traveling toward the northeast. It dissipated without causing a |
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
Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 9.3 hours before the alert went out and 236 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
- 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
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
603 WFUS54 KEWX 302118 TORSAT TXC055-302215- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE AUSTIN/SAN ANTONIO TX 318 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... CALDWELL * UNTIL 415 PM CST * AT 318 PM...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM WITH STRONG ROTATION THAT MAY PRODUCE A TORNADO AT ANY TIME 13 MILES WEST OF MARTINDALE...OR ABOUT 8 MILES WEST OF SAN MARCOS...MOVING EAST AT 40 MPH. * THE TORNADO PRODUCING STORM IS EXPECTED TO BE... 5 MILES NORTH OF MARTINDALE AT 330 PM 6 MILES NORTHWEST OF LOCKHART AT 345 PM IF YOU ARE CAUGHT OUTSIDE...SEEK SHELTER IN A NEARBY REINFORCED BUILDING. AS A LAST RESORT...SEEK SHELTER IN A CULVERT...DITCH OR LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS. $$
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, 2:05 PM CST | Tornado Warning | EWX | Bexar | 55 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, 3:28 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.