Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 13, NWS Brownsville, TX

October 12, 2003Hidalgo County, Texas

NWS Brownsville, TX issued this tornado warning at Oct 12, 2003, 7:38 AM CDT for Hidalgo County, Texas. It was in force for 52 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: Oct 12, 2003, 7:38 AM CDT (12:38 UTC)
Expired: Oct 12, 2003, 8:30 AM CDT
In force: 52 min
Issued by: NWS Brownsville, TX
Area: Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Hidalgo County, TX

The nearest sounding before it

Brownsville Intl, TX (KBRO), launched 12:00Z, 0.6 hours before the alert went out and 96 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: 1107 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -17 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 772 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 16 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 58 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 156 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.0
Supercell composite: 1.7

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KBRO 121238
TORBRO
TXC215-121330-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE BROWNSVILLE TX
738 AM CDT SUN OCT 12 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN BROWNSVILLE HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN HIDALGO COUNTY IN DEEP SOUTH TEXAS

* UNTIL 830 AM CDT

* AT 738 AM CDT...NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A
  SEVERE THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO NEAR HIDALGO...
  MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* THE TORNADO IS EXPECTED TO BE NEAR...
   MISSION BY 745 AM CDT.
   MCALLEN...PHARR BY 755 AM CDT.
   EDINBURG BY 810 AM CDT.

WHEN A TORNADO WARNING IS ISSUED BASED ON DOPPLER RADAR...IT MEANS
THAT STRONG ROTATION HAS BEEN DETECTED IN THE STORM. A TORNADO MAY
ALREADY BE ON THE GROUND...OR IS EXPECTED TO DEVELOP SHORTLY. IF YOU
ARE IN THE PATH OF THIS DANGEROUS STORM...MOVE INDOORS AND TO THE
LOWEST LEVEL OF THE BUILDING. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS. IF DRIVING...DO
NOT SEEK SHELTER UNDER A HIGHWAY OVERPASS.

THIS TORNADO WARNING REPLACES THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING THAT
WAS IN EFFECT FOR THE SAME AREA. GO TO A BASEMENT OR SMALL INTERIOR
ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR

DO NOT USE HIGHWAY OVERPASSES FOR SHELTER. OVERPASSES DO NOT PROVIDE
PROTECTION FROM TORNADIC WINDS. VEHICLES STOPPED UNDER BRIDGES BLOCK
TRAFFIC AND PREVENT PEOPLE FROM GETTING OUT OF THE STORMS PATH AND
TO SHELTER. IF YOU CANNOT DRIVE AWAY FROM THE TORNADO...GET OUT OF
YOUR VEHICLE AND LIE FLAT IN A DITCH AS A LAST RESORT.

THE SAFEST PLACE TO BE DURING A TORNADO IS IN A BASEMENT. GET UNDER A
WORKBENCH OR OTHER PIECE OF STURDY FURNITURE. IF NO BASEMENT IS
AVAILABLE...SEEK SHELTER ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF THE BUILDING IN AN
INTERIOR HALLWAY OR ROOM SUCH AS A CLOSET. USE BLANKETS OR PILLOWS TO
COVER YOUR BODY AND ALWAYS STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS.

IF IN MOBILE HOMES OR VEHICLES...EVACUATE THEM AND GET INSIDE A
SUBSTANTIAL SHELTER. IF NO SHELTER IS AVAILABLE...LIE FLAT IN THE
NEAREST DITCH OR OTHER LOW SPOT AND COVER YOUR HEAD WITH YOUR HANDS.

LAT...LON 2616 9845 2603 9831 2636 9799 2653 9822

$$

PHILO

The office that day

Everything else NWS Brownsville, TX issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Oct 12, 1:58 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BRO	Jim Hogg, Starr, Zapata	3 hr
Oct 12, 3:19 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BRO	Brooks	3 hr
Oct 12, 4:48 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BRO	Jim Hogg, Starr, Zapata	3 hr
Oct 12, 5:20 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BRO	Hidalgo	3 hr
Oct 12, 5:23 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Hidalgo	37 min
Oct 12, 6:00 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Hidalgo	45 min
Oct 12, 6:08 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BRO	Brooks	3 hr
Oct 12, 7:29 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Hidalgo	46 min
Oct 12, 8:10 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BRO	Brooks, Hidalgo, Jim Hogg, Starr, Zapata	3 hr
Oct 12, 8:51 AM CDT	Severe Thunderstorm Warning	BRO	Brooks, Kenedy	39 min
Oct 12, 9:52 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BRO	Kenedy, Willacy	3 hr
Oct 12, 10:21 AM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BRO	Cameron	3 hr
Oct 12, 1:34 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	BRO	Cameron	3 hr

Nearby

Tornado Warnings in Texas, 2003 Every tornado warning in 2003 Tornadoes in 2003

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.