Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 1, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

March 18, 2003Harris County, Montgomery County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Mar 18, 2003, 11:22 AM CST for Harris County, Montgomery County, Texas. It was in force for 38 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
Mar 18, 2003, 11:22 AM CST (17:22 UTC)
Expired
Mar 18, 2003, 12:00 PM CST
In force
38 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

Counties Harris County, TX, Montgomery County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:26 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 tornado 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, 5.4 hours before the alert went out and 232 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 2003-03-18Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 0 joules per kilogram.LCL10008507005003002001001 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, Lake Charles Mun, LA at 12:00Z on 2003-03-18The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 129 square meters per square second.1939587897117Sfc1 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
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
No buoyant parcel
Mixed-layer LCL
787 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
52 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
129 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
147 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.2

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KHGX 181722
TORHOU
TXC201-339-181800-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
1120 AM CST TUE MAR 18 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LEAGUE CITY HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  MONTGOMERY COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS
  NORTHERN HARRIS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS

* UNTIL NOON CST

* AT 1116 AM CST...THE PUBLIC AND LOCAL LAW ENFORCEMENT REPORTED 
MULTIPLE FUNNEL CLOUDS BETWEEN TOMBALL AND THE WOODLANDS. DOPPLER 
RADAR IS ALSO INDICATING SOME MID-LEVEL ROTATION. CONDITIONS ARE 
BECOMING MORE FAVORABLE FOR TORNADIC THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP. THE 
STORM IS MOVING NORTHEAST AT 20 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE...
  TOMBALL...HOOKS AIRPORT...STAGECOACH
  THE WOODLANDS
  SHENANDOAH...OAK RIDGE NORTH
  WOODLOCH

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 3011 9577 2998 9563 3023 9533 3034 9554

$$

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before this tornado 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 tornado warning went out at Mar 18, 11:16 AM CST, 6 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Mar 18, 11:16 AM CST, 6 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
1116 AM CST TUE MAR 18 2003

UPDATED THE ZONES TO RAISE HOUSTON AREA POPS TO 50%. ALSO...GOT A
REPORT OF A FUNNEL CLOUD ALONG THE EAST END OF THE LINE OF STORMS
BETWEEN LAKE CONROE AND WILLIS (ABOUT 1105 AM). EXTREME EASTERN
PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS ARE NOW IN SPCS DAY ONE MODERATE
RISK...AND THE THREAT FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS AND TORNADOES APPEARS
TO BE ON THE INCREASE. TORNADO WATCH MAY BE COMING SOON FOR THE
EASTERN PORTIONS OF THE AREA.

.HGX...NONE.

42/35/31/46/43/38

UPDATED PRELIMS...
CLL EB 060/049 075/050 075 632
IAH EB 077/051 075/052 076 522
GLS BB 075/060 072/061 073 31-
-------------------------------------------------------------------

.PREVIOUS UPDATE (1008 AM)...
HAVE RECEIVED A COUPLE REPORTS OF PEA TO 1/2 INCH SIZE HAIL IN
MADISON COUNTY WITHIN THE PAST 30 TO 45 MINUTES. VIL OF THE DAY IS
PROBABLY SOMEWHERE AROUND 50. BEST CHANCE FOR SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS
THROUGH THE AFTERNOON HOURS LOOKS TO BE ACROSS OUR NORTHERN COUNTIES
WHERE INSTABILITY IS GREATEST. SIGNIFICANTLY DRIER AIRMASS IS
PRESENT ACROSS THE SOUTHERN THIRD OF OUR COUNTY WARNING AREA...
INCLUDING THE COAST BETWEEN GALVESTON ISLAND AND MATAGORDA BAY.
MORNING VISIBLE SATELLITE PICTURES SHOW AN EVEN DRIER AIRMASS IN THE
WESTERN GULF OF MEXICO EDGING NORTHWARD TOWARD THE TEXAS COAST. WITH
MORE ENERGY ROUNDING THE BASE OF THE STRONG UPPER LOW TO OUR
NORTHWEST...CANNOT TOTALLY RULE OUT THE LINE OF STORMS GETTING
BETTER ORGANIZED AS IT RAPIDLY MAKES ITS WAY ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS
TOWARD LOUISIANA THIS AFTERNOON.

TEMPERATURES HAVE COOLED SIGNIFICANTLY BEHIND THE DRY LINE/COLD
FRONT (CLL IS DOWN TO 56 DEGREES). WILL NEED TO DO SOME DOWNWARD
TEMPERATURE ADJUSTMENTS ACROSS OUR NORTHERN COUNTIES...AS DAYTIME
HIGHS HAVE ALREADY BEEN REACHED. HOUSTON AREA MAY BE ABLE TO REACH
THE UPPER 70S BEFORE THE BOUNDARY MOVES THROUGH.

HAVE A FEELING WELL NEED TO DO SOME ZONE UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE DAY
DUE TO FAST MOVING PATTERN.
Hazardous weather outlook, Mar 18, 6:55 AM CST, 4 hours 27 minutes before
TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-182200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
655 AM CST TUE MAR 18 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS.

...SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE TODAY AND TONIGHT ACROSS MOST OF
SOUTHEAST TEXAS...

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT.

THERE IS A SLIGHT CHANCE OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS MOST OF
SOUTHEAST TEXAS TODAY AND EARLY TONIGHT. A STRONG UPPER LEVEL
DISTURBANCE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE DRYLINE IS EXPECTED TO MOVE
ACROSS THE REGION LATER TODAY. THE COMBINATION OF THESE TWO FEATURES
WILL LIKELY PRODUCE SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS ACROSS THE
AREA. FAVORABLE WIND SHEAR AND COLD AIR AT THE MID LEVELS OF THE
ATMOSPHERE INDICATE THAT THE PRIMARY SEVERE WEATHER THREATS AS
DAMAGING WIND AND HAIL. THE SEVERE WEATHER THREAT WILL BEGIN DURING
THE EARLY AFTERNOON AND END DURING THE EVENING HOURS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...WEDNESDAY THROUGH MONDAY.
ANOTHER STORM SYSTEM WILL MOVE FROM THE WESTERN U.S. INTO THE CENTRAL
U.S. THIS WEEKEND. AT THIS TIME...SEVERE WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED WITH
THIS SYSTEM.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...
SPOTTER ACTIVATION MAY BE REQUIRED...BEGINNING LATER TODAY.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Mar 18, 10:20 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHouston55 min
Mar 18, 11:16 AM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXMontgomery, San Jacinto44 min
Mar 18, 11:56 AM CSTSpecial Marine WarningHGX64 min
Mar 18, 11:58 AM CSTSpecial Marine WarningHGX62 min
Mar 18, 12:26 PM CSTSpecial Marine WarningHGX94 min
Mar 18, 12:47 PM CSTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXChambers, Harris43 min

Nearby

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