Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 3, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

March 30, 2002Matagorda County, Wharton County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Mar 30, 2002, 6:04 PM CST for Matagorda County, Wharton County, Texas. It was in force for 41 min. 1 report came from inside the area while it was in force.

The area

The counties it named, with what was reported inside it.

The facts

Issued: Mar 30, 2002, 6:04 PM CST (00:04 UTC)
Expired: Mar 30, 2002, 6:45 PM CST
In force: 41 min
Issued by: NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area: Whole counties

Counties Matagorda County, TX, Wharton County, TX

What was reported inside it

Time	Report	Where	Remark
Mar 30, 6:10 PM CST	Hail 2.75	El Campo, TX	Emergency Management and Sheriff witnessed Baseball sized Hail at State Highway 59 and FM 1163, with one inch hail covering the ground.

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
Mar 30, 3:45 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	5 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 00:00Z, 0.1 hours before the alert went out and 188 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: 3315 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -20 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 1234 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 64 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: -83 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 4 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: -0.6
Supercell composite: -3.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

867 
WFUS54 KHGX 310004
TORHOU
TXC321-481-310045-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
603 PM CST SAT MAR 30 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 645 PM CST

* AT 559 PM CST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF
  PRODUCING A TORNADO 6 MILES SOUTH OF LOUISE...MOVING EAST AT 40
  MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE...
  LOUISE
  EL CAMPO
  DANEVANG
  PIERCE
  BOLING-IAGO

THIS STORM HAS PRODUCED LARGE HAIL NEAR THE ENDA AREA.

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.

The office that day

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Mar 30, 6:22 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	Polk, Trinity	38 min
Mar 30, 6:31 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	Harris	59 min
Mar 30, 6:33 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Polk	27 min
Mar 30, 6:48 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Brazoria, Fort Bend, Matagorda	57 min
Mar 30, 7:01 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Polk, Trinity	29 min
Mar 30, 7:23 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	Harris, Liberty	37 min
Mar 30, 7:39 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	Polk, San Jacinto	36 min
Mar 30, 7:47 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Chambers, Galveston, Harris	43 min
Mar 30, 7:54 PM CST	Special Marine Warning	HGX		66 min
Mar 30, 8:01 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Liberty	29 min
Mar 30, 8:32 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	Chambers, Liberty	43 min
Mar 30, 9:08 PM CST	Special Marine Warning	HGX		67 min
Mar 30, 10:17 PM CST	Special Marine Warning	HGX		58 min
Mar 31, 3:02 AM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	HGX	Trinity	13 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.