Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

March 30, 2002Fort Bend County, Wharton County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Mar 30, 2002, 5:23 PM CST for Fort Bend County, Wharton County, Texas. It was in force for 37 min. 6 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 30, 2002, 5:23 PM CST (23:23 UTC)
Expired: Mar 30, 2002, 6:00 PM CST
In force: 37 min
Issued by: NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Fort Bend County, TX, Wharton County, TX

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Mar 30, 5:24 PM CST	Thunderstorm Wind 60 EG	Hungerford, TX	Sheriff reported a large tree limb, 12 to 16 inches in diameter, snapped during strong winds and had blocked the road at Lees Lane and FM 1161 in Hungerford.
Mar 30, 5:30 PM CST	Tornado F0	Hungerford, TX	There was a brief Tornado touchdown in the El Lobo Subdivision, 6 miles east of Hungerford, near the county line. Emergency management reported the event.
Mar 30, 5:36 PM CST	Tornado F0	Beasley, TX	A Tornado touchdown had severely damaged a home in Beasley, reported by Sheriff.
Mar 30, 5:45 PM CST	Hail 1	Rosenberg, TX
Mar 30, 5:53 PM CST	Hail 1	Richmond, TX	Quarter sized hail occurred in the Pecan Grove Plantation subdivision, reported by a ham radio operator.
Mar 30, 5:58 PM CST	Hail 1.75	Sugarland, 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.

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Mar 30, 3:45 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 11.4 hours before the alert went out and 239 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: 0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL: 2462 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 176 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 248 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 KHGX 302323
TORHOU
TXC157-481-310000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
523 PM CST SAT MAR 30 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  FORT BEND COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
  WHARTON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS

* UNTIL 600 PM CST

* AT 520 PM CST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF
  PRODUCING A TORNADO 3 MILES NORTHWEST OF HUNGERFORD...MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 55 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE...
  KENDLETON...HUNGERFORD...EAST BERNARD
  BEASLEY...ORCHARD...SIMONTON
  ROSENBERG
  RICHMOND...FULSHEAR
  PECAN GROVE

MOVE TO A SMALL INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR. ABANDON YOUR CAR
OR MOBILE HOME FOR A STRONG SHELTER NOW

PLEASE REPORT SEVERE WEATHER TO THE COUNTY SHERIFF...LOCAL POLICE...
OR DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC SAFETY. THEY WILL RELAY YOUR REPORT TO THE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE.

LAT...LON 2946 9624 2931 9612 2963 9558 2980 9585

The office that day

Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 30, 3:13 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	Austin, Colorado	32 min
Mar 30, 3:31 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	Colorado	29 min
Mar 30, 5:01 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	Fort Bend, Wharton	44 min
Mar 30, 5:11 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	Montgomery	34 min
Mar 30, 5:25 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	Jackson	35 min
Mar 30, 5:53 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	Jackson, Wharton	37 min
Mar 30, 5:54 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Fort Bend, Harris	36 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.