Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 16, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

September 7, 2002Matagorda County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Sep 7, 2002, 12:34 AM CDT for Matagorda County, Texas. It was in force for 41 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
Sep 7, 2002, 12:34 AM CDT (05:34 UTC)
Expired
Sep 7, 2002, 1:15 AM CDT
In force
41 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Matagorda County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 93 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 05:37 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
Sep 7, 12:55 AM CDTTornado F0Van Vleck, TXTornado destroyed a storm on FM 457 between Van Vleck and Cedar Lane.

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.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Sep 6, 11:35 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC8 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 00:00Z, 5.6 hours before the alert went out and 202 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 00:00Z on 2002-09-07Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 408 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 00:00Z on 2002-09-07The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -26 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
408 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-15 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1317 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-26 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
-11 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.

829 
WFUS54 KHGX 070534
TORHOU
TXC321-070615-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
1234 AM CDT SAT SEP 7 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LEAGUE CITY HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 115 AM CDT

* AT 1232 AM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF
  PRODUCING A TORNADO 7 MILES SOUTHEAST OF VAN VLECK...MOVING
  NORTHWEST AT 5 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE...
  BAY CITY
  VAN VLECK

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 2917 9589 2891 9576 2885 9586 2906 9607

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Sep 6, 7:53 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXBrazoria3 hr
Sep 6, 8:51 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXGalveston3 hr
Sep 6, 10:35 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXBrazoria, Matagorda3 hr
Sep 6, 11:17 PM CDTTornado WarningHGXBrazoria43 min
Sep 7, 12:01 AM CDTTornado WarningHGXBrazoria44 min
Sep 7, 12:17 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXMatagorda3 hr
Sep 7, 12:45 AM CDTTornado WarningHGXBrazoria45 min
Sep 7, 1:39 AM CDTTornado WarningHGXBrazoria, Matagorda, Wharton51 min
Sep 7, 2:13 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXFort Bend, Wharton3 hr
Sep 7, 2:47 AM CDTTornado WarningHGXBrazoria, Fort Bend43 min
Sep 7, 2:56 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXBrazoria2 hr
Sep 7, 3:39 AM CDTTornado WarningHGXWharton36 min
Sep 7, 4:37 AM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXColorado3 hr
Sep 7, 1:38 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningHGXWaller, Washington3 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.