Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 44, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

December 23, 2002Polk County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Dec 23, 2002, 2:21 PM CST for Polk County, Texas. It was in force for 54 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
Dec 23, 2002, 2:21 PM CST (20:21 UTC)
Expired
Dec 23, 2002, 3:15 PM CST
In force
54 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Polk County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 165 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:21 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 watch it was issued in

The SPC watch in force over the same counties when this warning went out.

IssuedProductOfficeLasted
Dec 23, 9:45 AM CSTTornado WatchSPC5 hr
Dec 23, 2:10 PM CSTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 8.4 hours before the alert went out and 184 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 2002-12-23Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 51 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 2002-12-23The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 96 square meters per square second.1939587897Sfc1 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
51 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-51 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
489 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
51 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
96 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
193 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
1.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KHGX 232021 RRA
TORHOU
TXC373-232115-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
221 PM CST MON DEC 23 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LEAGUE CITY HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 315 PM CST

* AT 216 PM CST...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF
  PRODUCING A TORNADO 3 MILES SOUTH OF ONALASKA...MOVING NORTHEAST AT
  20 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE...
  ONALASKA
  LEGGETT
  SEVEN OAKS
  MOSCOW
  CORRIGAN

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 3115 9483 3106 9461 3102 9466 3094 9465
          3069 9505 3073 9513 3083 9517

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Dec 23, 6:10 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGX50 min
Dec 23, 6:58 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGX62 min
Dec 23, 9:41 AM CSTTornado WarningHGXBrazos49 min
Dec 23, 9:57 AM CSTTornado WarningHGXAustin33 min
Dec 23, 10:06 AM CSTTornado WarningHGXWalker39 min
Dec 23, 10:51 AM CSTTornado WarningHGXTrinity39 min
Dec 23, 11:16 AM CSTTornado WarningHGXBrazos, Grimes44 min
Dec 23, 11:58 AM CSTTornado WarningHGXGrimes, Walker47 min
Dec 23, 12:13 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXMadison47 min
Dec 23, 12:36 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXHouston39 min
Dec 23, 1:13 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXHouston, Trinity47 min
Dec 23, 1:14 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXMontgomery46 min
Dec 23, 1:32 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXSan Jacinto43 min
Dec 23, 1:54 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXHarris36 min
Dec 23, 2:07 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXMontgomery38 min
Dec 23, 2:13 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXGrimes, Montgomery, Walker47 min
Dec 23, 2:21 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXHarris39 min
Dec 23, 2:41 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXMontgomery34 min
Dec 23, 2:49 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXTrinity26 min
Dec 23, 2:54 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXWalker36 min
Dec 23, 3:00 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXSan Jacinto45 min
Dec 23, 3:16 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXTrinity44 min
Dec 23, 4:20 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXBrazos, Madison40 min
Dec 23, 4:55 PM CSTTornado WarningHGXMadison50 min
Dec 23, 5:21 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGX54 min

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.