Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 2002

Tornado Watch 74

April 7, 200215 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Apr 7, 2002, 5:30 PM CDT for 15 counties in Texas. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Apr 7, 2002, 5:30 PM CDT (22:30 UTC)
Expired: Apr 7, 2002, 10:00 PM CDT
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Bandera County, TX, Bexar County, TX, Blanco County, TX, Burnet County, TX, Frio County, TX, Gillespie County, TX, Kendall County, TX, Kerr County, TX, Lampasas County, TX, Llano County, TX, Mason County, TX, Medina County, TX, San Saba County, TX, Uvalde County, TX, Zavala County, TX

Warnings issued inside it

8 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 7, 6:00 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EWX	Uvalde	60 min
Apr 7, 7:03 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EWX	Uvalde	57 min
Apr 7, 7:09 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EWX	Medina	66 min
Apr 7, 7:13 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	FWD	Bosque, Coryell, Lampasas, Somervell	47 min
Apr 7, 7:36 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EWX	Frio	54 min
Apr 7, 8:14 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EWX	Medina	31 min
Apr 7, 8:29 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	EWX	Frio	61 min
Apr 7, 9:31 PM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	EWX	Frio	59 min

The nearest sounding before it

Del Rio, TX (KDRT), launched 12:00Z, 10.5 hours before the alert went out and 156 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: 1329 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -91 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 591 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 55 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 311 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 328 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 2.1
Supercell composite: 8.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WWUS20 KWNS 072206
SEL4  
SPC WW 072202
TXZ000-080300-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 74
STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
502 PM CDT SUN APR 7 2002

THE STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF

   CENTRAL TEXAS                              

EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 530 PM UNTIL 1000
PM CDT.

TORNADOES...HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 80 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 45 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 55 MILES SOUTH SOUTHWEST OF HONDO TEXAS TO 115 MILES
NORTH OF SAN ANTONIO TEXAS.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA. 
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...  CONTINUE...WW 72...WW 73...

DISCUSSION...LINE OF INTENSE/SUPERCELL THUNDERSTORMS WILL CONTINUE
TO TRACK EASTWARD ACROSS CENTRAL TX THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS. 
STRONG VERTICAL SHEAR PROFILES AND AMPLE MOISTURE/INSTABILITY ARE
EXPECTED TO MAINTAIN THREAT OF DAMAGING WINDS...LARGE HAIL...AND
ISOLATED TORNADOES WITH THIS ACTIVITY.  EVOLUTION TO BOW
CONFIGURATIONS MAY OCCUR WITH AN ENHANCED DAMAGING WIND THREAT.

AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 2 INCHES.  EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 70 KNOTS.  A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 500. 
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 27035.

...HART

311,0974 283,0984 283,1001 311,0991

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Apr 6, 6:00 PM CST	Severe Thunderstorm Watch	SPC	Loving, Pecos, Reeves, Ward, Winkler	5 hr
Apr 7, 1:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Borden, Callahan, Coke, Coleman, Concho, Crockett and 27 more	6 hr
Apr 7, 2:30 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Bosque, Brown, Comanche, Coryell, Dallas, Denton and 19 more	6 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Texas, 2002 Every tornado watch 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.