Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2002

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 220, NWS Fort Worth, TX

August 27, 2002Fannin County, Texas

NWS Fort Worth, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 27, 2002, 5:59 AM CDT for Fannin County, Texas. It was in force for 61 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: Aug 27, 2002, 5:59 AM CDT (10:59 UTC)
Expired: Aug 27, 2002, 7:00 AM CDT
In force: 61 min
Issued by: NWS Fort Worth, TX
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Fannin County, TX

The radar

The Dallas/Ft Worth radar (KFWS), 162 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 10:59 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
Aug 27, 6:45 AM CDT	Thunderstorm Wind 52 E	Bonham, TX	Numerous reports of power lines down in town.

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.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The nearest sounding before it

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 00:00Z, 11.0 hours before the alert went out and 141 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: 2219 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -54 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 2011 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 35 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 6 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 150 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 7.8

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

689 
WUUS54 KFWD 271059
SVRFTW
TXC147-271200-

BULLETIN - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
556 AM CDT TUE AUG 27 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN FORT WORTH HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  FANNIN COUNTY IN NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS

* UNTIL 700 AM CDT

* AT 556 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR DETECTED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 11 MILES NORTHWEST OF BONHAM...MOVING SOUTHEAST     
  AT 35 MPH. THIS STORM WAS OUT AHEAD OF A SEVERE SQUALL LINE ABOUT
  TO MOVE ACROSS THE RED RIVER INTO NORTH TEXAS. 

* THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WILL BE NEAR...
  BONHAM AROUND 630 AM CDT

HAIL TO THE SIZE OF DIMES AND NICKELS...ALONG WITH WIND GUSTS TO 60 
MPH ARE LIKELY THIS STORM. FOR YOUR PROTECTION MOVE TO A STURDY SHELTER 
UNTIL THE STORM PASSES.

REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE NEAREST LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCY...FOR
RELAY TO THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST OFFICE IN FORT WORTH.

LAT...LON 3384 9625 3367 9633 3341 9634 3346 9589
          3384 9590

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Fort Worth, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Aug 27, 4:27 AM CDT, 1 hour 32 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 27, 4:27 AM CDT, 1 hour 32 minutes before

AREA FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
427 AM CDT TUE AUG 27 2002

A SQUALL LINE OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN SOUTHERN OKLAHOMA
WILL CONTINUE MOVING SOUTH AND IMPACT MUCH OF NORTH TEXAS THIS
MORNING...SEVERE POTENTIAL LOOKS HIGH WITH STRAIGHT LINE WINDS THE
MAIN HAZARD.  STORMS SHOULD WEAKEN AS THE MOVE INTO THE SOUTHERN
SECTIONS OF THE CWA LATER THIS MORNING.

UPPER RIDGE WILL REMAIN IN THE SOUTHWEST U.S. FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS
AND KEEP NORTH TO NORTHWEST FLOW OVER THE REGION.  DOES LOOK LIKE
THUNDERSTORM CHANCES DECREASE EACH DAY AND SHOULD END BY THE WEEKEND
AS THE RIDGE DRIFTS EASTWARD.

FCSTID = 79
DFW   97  76  96  74 /  40  20  20  20
ACT  101  75  98  74 /  40  10  20  10
PRX   94  71  95  74 /  30  20  10  10
DTO   97  73  96  74 /  60  30  20  20
TKI   97  73  97  74 /  50  20  20  20
DAL   97  75  97  74 /  40  20  20  20
TRL   97  73  97  74 /  30  20  20  10
CRS  100  72  97  74 /  40  10  10   0
TPL  101  74  98  73 /  40  10  20   0

.FWD...SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 900 AM CDT TUESDAY FOR ZONES
TXC001...TXC027...TXC035...TXC085...TXC093...TXC097...TXC099...TXC113
...TXC121...TXC133...TXC139...TXC143...TXC145...TXC147...TXC161
...TXC181...TXC193...TXC213...TXC217...TXC221...TXC231...TXC237...TXC
251...TXC257...TXC281...TXC289...TXC293...TXC309...TXC331...TXC333...
TXC337...TXC349...TXC363...TXC367...TXC395...TXC397...TXC425...TXC429
...TXC439...TXC467...TXC497...TXC503.

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 27, 5:51 AM CDT, 8 minutes before

TXZ083>094-098>105-114>122-128>135-139>148-154>162-174-175-272100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR NORTH TEXAS
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORT WORTH TX
551 AM CDT TUE AUG 27 2002

A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH IS IN EFFECT UNTIL 9 AM CDT FOR ALL OF
NORTH TEXAS...EXCEPT FOR THE COUNTIES OF LAMAR...DELTA...HOPKINS...
AND RAINS.

A SQUALL LINE OF STRONG TO SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE RAPIDLY SOUTHWARD
FROM THE RED RIVER THIS MORNING AND AFFECT MUCH OF NORTH TEXAS.
STRONG WINDS IN EXCESS OF 60 MPH AND LARGE HAIL WILL BE THE PRIMARY
SEVERE WEATHER THREATS.  THE STRONG WINDS WILL QUICKLY DECREASE ONCE
THE INITIAL LINE OF STORMS MOVES THROUGH...HOWEVER...PERIODS OF
HEAVY RAIN AND CLOUD TO GROUND LIGHTNING WILL STILL BE POSSIBLE.
THUNDERSTORMS ARE EXPECTED TO DECREASE IN COVERAGE AND INTENSITY BY
MIDDAY ONCE THE LOW LEVEL INFLOW WINDS DECREASE AND SOME DRIER AIR
MIXES DOWN.

MOTORIST SHOULD USE CAUTION DURING THE MORNING COMMUTE DUE TO WET
AND SLICK ROADS AS WELL AS REDUCED VISIBILITY IN HEAVY RAIN.

The office that day

Everything else NWS Fort Worth, TX issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Aug 27, 4:45 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Montague	60 min
Aug 27, 4:45 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Collin	23 hr
Aug 27, 4:50 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Cooke	55 min
Aug 27, 5:08 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Jack, Wise	52 min
Aug 27, 5:43 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Cooke, Grayson	62 min
Aug 27, 6:04 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Denton	56 min
Aug 27, 6:29 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Collin, Dallas, Tarrant	61 min
Aug 27, 7:27 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	FWD	Fannin	3 hr
Aug 27, 8:22 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Hopkins, Rains	38 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 2002 Every severe thunderstorm warning 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.