Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2002

Tornado Warning 5, NWS Midland/Odessa, TX

May 5, 2002Pecos County, Texas

NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued this tornado warning at May 5, 2002, 6:09 PM CDT for Pecos County, Texas. It was in force for 51 min. 2 reports 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
May 5, 2002, 6:09 PM CDT (23:09 UTC)
Expired
May 5, 2002, 7:00 PM CDT
In force
51 min
Issued by
NWS Midland/Odessa, TX
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Pecos County, TX

The radar

The Midland/Odessa radar (KMAF), 146 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:10 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
May 5, 6:49 PM CDTHail 1.75Ft Stockton, TXReported on FM1776.
May 5, 7:03 PM CDTHail 1.75Ft Stockton, TXReported on highway 18.

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
May 5, 4:00 PM CDTTornado WatchSPC6 hr

The nearest sounding before it

Midland Regional, TX (KMAF), launched 12:00Z, 11.2 hours before the alert went out and 146 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, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 2002-05-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1652 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, Midland Regional, TX at 12:00Z on 2002-05-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 158 square meters per square second.19395878Sfc1 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
1652 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-137 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
740 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
43 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
158 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
202 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.7
Supercell composite
3.5

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KMAF 052309
TORMAF
TXC371-060000-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MIDLAND/ODESSA TX
610 PM CDT SUN MAY 5 2002

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  NORTHWESTERN PECOS COUNTY IN SOUTHWEST TEXAS

* UNTIL 700 PM CDT

* AT 608 PM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED   
  A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 8 MILES WEST OF      
  FORT STOCKTON...MOVING NORTHEAST AT 10 MPH.

* SOME LOCATIONS AFFECTED BY THE STORM INCLUDE...
  FORT STOCKTON AND BELDING.

A TORNADO MAY FORM AT ANY TIME-TAKE COVER NOW ABANDON MOBILE HOMES
AND VEHICLES FOR MORE SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. AVOID WINDOWS.

IN ADDITION TO THE THREAT OF A TORNADO...LARGE HAIL AND DAMAGING
WINDS CAN BE EXPECTED. GO TO A SAFE PLACE NOW.

LAT...LON 3082 10350 3063 10302 3105 10265 3128 10307

The office that day

Everything else NWS Midland/Odessa, TX issued on the same UTC day.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
May 4, 7:32 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFScurry43 min
May 4, 8:36 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFScurry39 min
May 4, 9:12 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFScurry48 min
May 4, 9:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFMartin43 min
May 4, 9:28 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFBorden47 min
May 4, 9:59 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFScurry31 min
May 4, 10:00 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFMartin45 min
May 4, 10:21 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFBorden29 min
May 4, 10:43 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFBorden47 min
May 4, 10:47 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFScurry58 min
May 4, 11:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFGaines27 min
May 4, 11:07 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFScurry38 min
May 4, 11:43 PM CDTTornado WarningMAFMitchell, Scurry32 min
May 5, 4:17 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFBrewster58 min
May 5, 4:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFBrewster48 min
May 5, 5:11 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFPecos64 min
May 5, 5:29 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningMAFBrewster31 min
May 5, 6:02 PM CDTFlash Flood WarningMAFPecos3 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.