Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 28, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

December 12, 2002Austin County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Dec 12, 2002, 10:40 AM CST for Austin County, Texas. It was in force for 50 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: Dec 12, 2002, 10:40 AM CST (16:40 UTC)
Expired: Dec 12, 2002, 11:30 AM CST
In force: 50 min
Issued by: NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Austin County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 126 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 16:44 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

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Dec 12, 11:00 AM CST	Thunderstorm Wind	Cat Spg, TX	Tree downed by wind near FM 949 about 2 miles south of FM 1094.

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
Dec 12, 5:10 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 4.7 hours before the alert went out and 262 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: 308 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -416 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 551 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 198 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 337 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 2.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

315 
WFUS54 KHGX 121640
TORHOU
TXC015-121730-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
1040 AM CST THU DEC 12 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LEAGUE CITY HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 1130 AM CST

* AT 1034 AM CST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF
  PRODUCING A TORNADO 8 MILES SOUTHWEST OF CAT SPRING...MOVING
  NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE...
  CAT SPRING
  BELLVILLE

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 3005 9622 2989 9614 2975 9629 2983 9635
          2983 9642 2989 9640

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Lasted
Dec 12, 6:02 AM CST	Special Marine Warning	HGX	118 min
Dec 12, 6:43 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	47 min
Dec 12, 7:12 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	63 min
Dec 12, 7:26 AM CST	Special Marine Warning	HGX	2 hr
Dec 12, 8:06 AM CST	Special Marine Warning	HGX	114 min
Dec 12, 8:41 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	64 min
Dec 12, 9:59 AM CST	Special Marine Warning	HGX	2 hr
Dec 12, 9:59 AM CST	Special Marine Warning	HGX	2 hr
Dec 12, 11:50 AM CST	Special Marine Warning	HGX	115 min
Dec 12, 11:50 AM CST	Special Marine Warning	HGX	115 min
Dec 12, 12:39 PM CST	Special Marine Warning	HGX	66 min
Dec 12, 1:45 PM CST	Special Marine Warning	HGX	75 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.