Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

September 17, 2002Montgomery County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Sep 17, 2002, 5:13 PM CDT for Montgomery County, Texas. It was in force for 32 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
Sep 17, 2002, 5:13 PM CDT (22:13 UTC)
Expired
Sep 17, 2002, 5:45 PM CDT
In force
32 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Montgomery County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 90 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:17 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 206 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 2002-09-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1200 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 2002-09-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 130 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
1200 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-14 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
610 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
25 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
130 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
174 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.4
Supercell composite
3.9

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

956 
WFUS54 KHGX 172213
TORHOU
TXC339-172245-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
511 PM CDT TUE SEP 17 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LEAGUE CITY HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 545 PM CDT

* AT 507 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF  
PRODUCING A TORNADO 5 MILES NORTH OF PORTER HEIGHTS...MOVING         
NORTHEAST AT 15 TO 20 MPH. STORM SPOTTERS REPORTED A FUNNEL CLOUD
NEAR RAYFORD ROAD AND RESEARCH FOREST NEAR THE WOODLANDS.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE...
  PORTER HEIGHTS

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 3025 9545 3012 9530 3026 9516 3038 9531

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.