Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Warning 152, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

August 8, 2003Fort Bend County, Harris County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this severe thunderstorm warning at Aug 8, 2003, 3:46 PM CDT for Fort Bend County, Harris County, Texas. It was in force for 44 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
Aug 8, 2003, 3:46 PM CDT (20:46 UTC)
Expired
Aug 8, 2003, 4:30 PM CDT
In force
44 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Fort Bend County, TX, Harris County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 53 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 20:49 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.

Did it verify

Not verified. The Iowa Environmental Mesonet's Cow found no qualifying storm report inside this severe thunderstorm warning while it was in force. That is not proof nothing happened: reports are thin where few people live.

Cow counts a report within 15 km of the polygon while the warning was in force: a tornado for a tornado warning; hail of 1 inch or more, a gust of 58 mph or more or wind damage for a severe thunderstorm warning; a flash flood report for a flash flood warning.

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 8.8 hours before the alert went out and 241 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 2003-08-08Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1165 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 2003-08-08The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 34 square meters per square second.193958Sfc1 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
1165 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-105 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
1134 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
24 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
34 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
132 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.1

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WUUS54 KHGX 082046
SVRHOU
TXC157-201-082130-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
346 PM CDT FRI AUG 8 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LEAGUE CITY HAS ISSUED A

* SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WARNING FOR...
  HARRIS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
  FORT BEND COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS

* UNTIL 430 PM CDT

* AT 340 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM 2    
  MILES NORTH OF MISSION BEND...MOVING SOUTH AT 35 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM INCLUDE...
  MISSION BEND
  PECAN GROVE...MEADOWS
  SUGAR LAND
  STAFFORD...RICHMOND
  FIRST COLONY...MISSOURI CITY

DAMAGING WINDS ARE THE MAIN THREAT FROM THIS STORM.  

MOVE TO AN INTERIOR ROOM ON THE LOWEST FLOOR OF YOUR HOME OR
BUSINESS. STAY AWAY FROM WINDOWS

STRONG WINDS MAY KNOCK DOWN TREES AND POWER LINES OR DAMAGE
BUILDINGS. TAKE COVER 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 2976 9554 2980 9576 2940 9579 2935 9563
          2946 9556 2946 9548

$$

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this severe thunderstorm warning went out, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX wrote its last area forecast discussion before this severe thunderstorm warning went out at Aug 8, 3:05 PM CDT, 41 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Aug 8, 3:05 PM CDT, 41 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
305 PM CDT FRI AUG 8 2003

UPPER LEVEL RIDGE IS STILL FORECAST TO SHIFT WEST OVER THE WEEKEND
ALLOWING LOWER HEIGHTS TO DEVELOP OVER SE TX. THIS WILL EVENTUALLY
LEAD TO COOLER TEMPERATURES. THINK THE MODELS ARE BIT TOO AGGRESSIVE
WITH THE RIDGE SHIFTING WEST AND WILL AGAIN FORECAST TEMPERATURES OF
100 DEGREES OVER MOST OF THE AREA FOR SATURDAY. THE GFS IS VERY
AGGRESSIVE WITH A STRONG S/WV TONIGHT AND A LARGE SWATH OF PRECIP
OVER THE WESTERN ZONES. WILL DISREGARD THIS SOLUTION AS IT APPEARS
TO BE CONVECTIVE FEEDBACK. WILL LEAN TOWARD THE ETA AND KEEP
ISOLATED POPS FOR THIS EVENING. HAVE TRENDED COOLER ON SUNDAY FOR A
COUPLE OF REASONS...LOWER HEIGHTS AND CLOUD COVER. BOTH THE ETA AND
GFS INDICATE A STRONG S/WV WILL ROTATE AROUND THE PERIPHERY OF THE
UPPER RIDGE AND PRODUCE A NOCTURNAL MCS WHICH WILL SLIDE SOUTH
ACROSS THE REGION LATE SAT NITE AND SUNDAY. PRECIP AND CLOUD COVER
SHOULD KEEP TEMPS COOLER THAN PAST SEVERAL DAYS. UPPER TROUGH IS
PROGGED TO DEVELOP OVER EAST TEXAS FOR MUCH OF NEXT WEEK. RAIN
CHANCES SHOULD IMPROVE AS THE WEEK PROGRESSES. CLOUD COVER SHOULD
HELP KEEP TEMPS NEAR SEASONAL LEVELS. WILL MAINTAIN THE HEAT
ADVISORY FOR ONE MORE DAY. INCREASED CLOUD COVER AND PRECIP SHOULD
PRECLUDE THE NECESSITY FOR A HEAT ADVISORY ON SUNDAY.

.HGX...HEAT ADVISORY ALL OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS.

43/33

PRELIMS...
CLL BB 077/101 076/095 073 223
IAH BB 078/100 076/095 074 122
GLS BB 081/092 080/089 079 122
Hazardous weather outlook, Aug 8, 7:00 AM CDT, 8 hours 46 minutes before
GMZ330-335-TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-091200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
700 AM CDT FRI AUG 8 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT.
AN EXCESSIVE HEAT ADVISORY IS IN EFFECT FOR ALL OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS.
NEAR RECORD HEAT ALONG WITH HIGH HUMIDITIES WILL YIELD HEAT INDEX
VALUES BETWEEN 105 AND 112 DEGREES THIS AFTERNOON.

ISOLATED THUNDERSTORMS MAY DEVELOP ALONG THE SEABREEZE TOWARD THE
LATE AFTERNOON AND EVENING HOURS IF THEY CAN OVERCOME A STRONG CAP
OF WARM AIR ALOFT. ANY STORMS THAT DO DEVELOP SHOULD INTENSIFY
QUICKLY AND BE CAPABLE OF PRODUCING STRONG GUSTY WINDS IN EXCESS OF
40 MPH. OTHERWISE...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...SATURDAY THROUGH THURSDAY. THE EXCESSIVE
HEAT ADVISORY MAY NEED TO BE EXTENDED INTO SATURDAY...BUT IS LOOKING
LIKE IT SHOULD BE ABLE TO BE DISCONTINUED ON SUNDAY DUE TO LOWER
TEMPERATURES AND INCREASED CLOUD COVER. A THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX MAY
MOVE INTO THE WESTERN HALF OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS LATE SATURDAY NIGHT
AND SUNDAY. WE WILL BE MONITORING THE CHANCE OF SEVERE WEATHER
ASSOCIATED WITH THIS AS FUTURE COMPUTER MODEL RUNS BECOME AVAILABLE.
OTHERWISE...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Aug 8, 4:03 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBurleson27 min
Aug 8, 4:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXAustin, Washington48 min
Aug 8, 4:58 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXColorado47 min
Aug 8, 5:16 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHarris29 min
Aug 8, 5:41 PM CDTTornado WarningHGXColorado34 min
Aug 8, 5:45 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHarris45 min
Aug 8, 6:30 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHarris30 min
Aug 8, 6:52 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazoria38 min

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings in Texas, 2003Every severe thunderstorm warning 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; radar from the NEXRAD Level II archive.