Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

August 8, 2002Galveston County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Aug 8, 2002, 9:00 AM CDT for Galveston County, Texas. It was in force for 30 min. No storm report in the archive falls inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued
Aug 8, 2002, 9:00 AM CDT (14:00 UTC)
Expired
Aug 8, 2002, 9:30 AM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Galveston County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 40 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:01 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.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this tornado 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

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 2.0 hours before the alert went out and 175 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-pSkew-T log-p diagram, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 2002-08-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 465 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°0°10°20°30°40°
Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.
HodographHodograph, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 2002-08-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 55 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 km3 km6 km9 kmRMLM
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
465 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-131 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1172 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
29 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
55 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
54 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.3

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

625 
WFUS54 KHGX 081400
TORHOU
TXC167-081430-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
858 AM CDT THU AUG 8 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LEAGUE CITY HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  GALVESTON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS

* UNTIL 930 AM CDT

* AT 855 AM CDT...WEATHER SPOTTERS REPORTED A WATERSPOUT 1 MILE 
OFFSHORE OF THE SEAWALL ON THE EAST END OF THE ISLAND...MOVING WEST 
AT 20 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE...
  GALVESTON

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 2918 9466 2935 9461 2941 9481 2928 9492

What forecasters said that day

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

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this tornado warning went out at Aug 8, 3:15 AM CDT, 5 hours 45 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 8, 3:15 AM CDT, 5 hours 45 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
315 AM CDT THU AUG 8 2002

TROPICAL DEPRESSION (BERTHA) ACCORDING TO LATEST FORECAST TRACK WILL
REMAIN OFFSHORE TODAY AND SHOULD BE SOUTH OF CWFA TONIGHT. THIS
TRACK IS SLOWER AND NORTH OF BOTH AVN AND ETA MODELS. CONVECTION
ASSOCIATED WITH THIS DEPRESSION EARLY THIS MORNING HAS BEEN MAINLY
CONFINED TO THE SOUTHWEST AND SOUTH QUADRANT. TROPOSPHERE WILL
CONTINUE TO HAVE HIGH WATER VAPOR CONTENT OVER OUR CWFA NEXT TWO
DAYS (PWATS AT OR SLIGHTLY ABOVE 2 INCHES) WITH A GRADUAL LOWERING
DURING THE WEEKEND. WILL CONTINUE WITH HIGHER POPS OVER FAR
SOUTHWEST ZONES (MATAGORDA AND JACKSON) TODAY AND TONIGHT IN LIGHT
OF THE DEPRESSIONS TRACK. SOUTHWEST MARINE ZONES (INCLUDING
MATAGORDA BAY) EXPECTED (FOR NOW) TO REMAIN UNDER SCEC THRESHOLD.
UPPER RIDGE WILL PUSH TOWARDS OUR REGION LATER FRIDAY AS THE
DEPRESSION MOVES FARTHER INLAND. MODELS INDICATE WEAKNESS ALOFT OVER
TEXAS WITH RELATIVELY HIGH MOISTURE LEVELS LATER THIS WEEKEND AND
INTO NEXT WEEK. WILL CONTINUE WITH MAINLY AFTERNOON/EARLY EVENING
CONVECTION FOR THE LAST FOUR DAYS OF THIS PACKAGE.

37/42

.HGX...NONE.

PRELIMS...
CLL BB 098/075 097/075 095 323
IAH EB 094/077 095/075 094 423
GLS EB 090/081 090/081 090 423

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Aug 8, 4:45 AM CDT, 4 hours 15 minutes before
TXZ235-236-082100-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
445 AM CDT THU AUG 8 2002

...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE TODAY FOR MATAGORDA AND JACKSON
COUNTIES...

TROPICAL DEPRESSION BERTHA AT 4 AM CDT WAS ABOUT 155 MILES
EAST-NORTHEAST OF CORPUS CHRISTI. THE DEPRESSION IS MOVING
TOWARD THE SOUTHWEST NEAR 8 MPH AND A GRADUAL TURN TO THE
WEST IS EXPECTED TO BEGIN LATER TODAY. BERTHA IS EXPECTED TO
MAKE LANDFALL NEAR THE COASTAL BEND EARLY FRIDAY.

SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ASSOCIATED WITH TROPICAL DEPRESSION BERTHA
IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL OVER MATAGORDA AND
JACKSON COUNTIES FROM LATE THIS MORNING THROUGH THE AFTERNOON.
EXPECT AVERAGE RAINFALL AMOUNTS OF 1/2 TO ONE INCH WITH ISOLATED
AMOUNTS TO 3 INCHES.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO FOR THE LATEST WEATHER INFORMATION.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 8, 9:06 AM CDTSpecial Marine WarningHGX39 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; the sounding from the Mesonet's radiosonde archive; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.