Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 10, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

June 12, 2003Walker County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 12, 2003, 2:17 PM CDT for Walker County, Texas. It was in force for 28 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
Jun 12, 2003, 2:17 PM CDT (19:17 UTC)
Expired
Jun 12, 2003, 2:45 PM CDT
In force
28 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Walker County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 139 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:16 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, 7.3 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 2003-06-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3708 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 2003-06-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 111 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
3708 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
565 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
111 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
144 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.1
Supercell composite
14.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

000 
WFUS54 KHGX 121917
TORHOU
TXC471-121945-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
215 PM CDT THU JUN 12 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LEAGUE CITY HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  WALKER COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS

* UNTIL 245 PM CDT

* AT 211 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF
  PRODUCING A TORNADO OVER HUNTSVILLE STATE PARK...MOVING NORTHEAST
  AT 25 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE...
  HUNTSVILLE STATE PARK...HUNTSVILLE

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 3069 9568 3056 9558 3058 9538 3078 9536

$$

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 Jun 12, 1:55 PM CDT, 22 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jun 12, 1:55 PM CDT, 22 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
155 PM CDT THU JUN 12 2003

TWO OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES HAVE MERGED ACROSS NRN PORTIONS OF CWA THIS
AFTN PRODUCING A BAND OF HEAVY RAINFALL (2 TO 4 INCHES) AND PULSE
SEVERE STORMS. THIS BOUNDARY WILL PUSH VERY SLOWLY SOUTH THROUGH THE
REMAINDER OF THE AFTN. WILL LEAVE CHANCE POPS IN FOR EARLY EVENING
BEFORE ACTIVITY DIES DOWN AROUND SUNSET.

LATEST ETA/GFS IN GOOD AGREEMENT ON ANOTHER MCS FORMING OVER CENTRAL
TX TONIGHT. HOWEVER...MODELS KEEP THIS SYSTEM WEST OF CWA TONIGHT AS
POOR JET POSITIONING AND WEAK MID LEVEL FLOW INHIBITS EASTWARD
PROGRESS TOWARD SE TX. WILL LEAVE CHANCE POPS NORTH FRIDAY AS A
PRECAUTION BUT WILL GO JUST SLIGHT CHANCE CENTRAL/COAST WITH
SLIGHTLY DRIER AIRMASS IN PLACE AND A LITTLE MORE CAPPING THAN
TODAY. HEAT INDICES WILL PEAK OUT AT AROUND 107 DEGREES AGAIN
FRIDAY...BUT THINK WE WILL REMAIN JUST BELOW ADVISORY CRITERIA.

MODELS CONTINUE TO DEVELOP A WEAK UPPER LOW ACROSS NORTH TX FRI
NIGHT ALONG WITH WIDESPREAD CONVECTION. 12Z ETA/GFS HAVE SLIGHT BUT
SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN THEIR SOLUTIONS. ETA IS A BIT FASTER AND
FURTHER SOUTH WITH MOVEMENT OF UPPER LOW AND IS FAR MORE AGGRESSIVE
PUSHING HIGHER PWS (OVER 2 INCHES) AND MORE WIDESPREAD TSRA SOUTH
INTO CWA SATURDAY. FOR NOW WILL COMPROMISE SOMEWHAT AND INCREASE
POPS ONLY IN THE NORTH SATURDAY. STRONG OUTFLOW BOUNDARY WILL LIKELY
SET UP OVER CWA SATURDAY AND INTERACT WITH UNSTABLE AIRMASS IN
PLACE...SO SPC SLIGHT RISK FOR DAY 3 LOOKS GOOD. UPPER LOW WILL
MEANDER NEAR EAST TX/LOUISIANA THROUGH EARLY NEXT WEEK WITH SFC
BOUNDARY LINGERING TO PROVIDE CONVECTIVE FOCUS. EVEN SLIGHT SHIFTS
WITH POSITION OF UPPER LOW WILL MAKE A WORLD OF DIFFERENCE WITH RAIN
CHANCES OVER THE AREA. FOR NOW...WILL LEAVE CHANCE POPS IN FCST
THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

FOR MARINE...SCEC CONDITIONS WILL CONTINUE THROUGH FRI NIGHT BEFORE
WINDS SUBSIDE A LITTLE SATURDAY. SEAS MAY TEMPORARILY REACH 7 FEET
OVER THE OFFSHORE WATERS.

35/42

.HGX...SCEC 00-60 NM BAYS AND WATERS.

.PRELIMS...
CLL BB 075/095 074/091 072 233
IAH BB 077/095 077/093 073 322
GLS BB 082/089 081/089 079 222
Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 12, 10:55 AM CDT, 3 hours 22 minutes before
GMZ330-335-TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-
131200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
1055 AM CDT THU JUN 12 2003

...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS OVER PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST
TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON AND EVENING...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT.
THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS THIS AFTERNOON AND
EVENING MAINLY NORTH OF A LINE FROM COLLEGE STATION TO CONROE TO
LIBERTY. A SERIES OF OUTFLOW BOUNDARIES WILL COMBINE WITH DAYTIME
HEATING TO PRODUCE SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS OVER
SOUTHEAST TEXAS THIS AFTERNOON AND EARLY EVENING. A FEW OF THE
STORMS COULD BECOME SEVERE...PRODUCING LARGE HAIL OR DAMAGING WINDS.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY.

FRIDAY AND SATURDAY AFTERNOON TEMPERATURES IN THE 90S AND
DEWPOINTS IN THE MID TO UPPER 70S WILL CONTINUE TO PRODUCE HEAT
INDICES ACROSS SOUTHEAST TEXAS IN A 102 TO 107 DEGREE RANGE. AS
TEMPERATURES BEGIN TO FALL AROUND AND SHORTLY AFTER SUNSET EACH
EVENING...HEAT INDICES WILL FALL BELOW 100 DEGREES. A HEAT ADVISORY
IS NOT ANTICIPATED FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS AT THIS TIME BECAUSE HEAT
INDICES ARE NOT EXPECTED TO MEET THE CRITERIA OF 108 DEGREES FOR TWO
CONSECUTIVE DAYS.

SUNDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY...

NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME.

.SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT...

SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED TODAY.

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 12, 2:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazos25 min
Jun 12, 2:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXGrimes22 min
Jun 12, 1:14 PM CDTTornado WarningHGXGrimes31 min
Jun 12, 2:03 PM CDTTornado WarningHGXPolk27 min
Jun 12, 6:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHouston55 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.