Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

August 22, 2002Harris County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Aug 22, 2002, 3:08 PM CDT for Harris County, Texas. It was in force for 37 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 22, 2002, 3:08 PM CDT (20:08 UTC)
Expired
Aug 22, 2002, 3:45 PM CDT
In force
37 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Harris County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 46 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:10 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

TimeReportWhereRemark
Aug 22, 3:30 PM CDTTornado F0Houston, TXPower lines down 6 miles west of downtown Houston on I-10.

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 nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 8.1 hours before the alert went out and 220 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 2002-08-22Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2232 joules per kilogram.LCLLFCEL10008507005003002001001 km2 km3 km6 km9 km12 km15 km-30°-20°-10°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 2002-08-22The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -9 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
2232 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-7 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
735 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
9 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-9 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
0 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.

171 
WFUS54 KHGX 222008
TORHOU
TXC201-222045-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
304 PM CDT THU AUG 22 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LEAGUE CITY HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 345 PM CDT

* AT 300 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF  
PRODUCING A TORNADO IN DOWNTOWN HOUSTON ALONG I-10...JUST 4 MILES 
WEST OF I-45...DRIFTING WEST AT 5 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE...
  HOUSTON...ESPECIALLY ALONG I-10 BETWEEN THE LOOP AND DOWNTOWN

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 2966 9535 2984 9530 2987 9558 2972 9561

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 22, 3:40 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXHarris2 hr

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.