Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2003
Tornado Warning 19, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 15, 2003, 9:40 AM CDT for Matagorda County, Texas. It was in force for 35 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 15, 2003, 9:40 AM CDT (14:40 UTC)
- Expired
- Jun 15, 2003, 10:15 AM CDT
- In force
- 35 min
- Issued by
- NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Matagorda County, TX
The radar
The Houston radar (KHGX), 103 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 14:41 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
Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 2.7 hours before the alert went out and 192 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.
- Mixed-layer CAPE
- 2701 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -17 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 738 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 16 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -26 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -28 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- -0.1
- Supercell composite
- -0.7
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
777 WFUS54 KHGX 151440 TORHOU TXC321-151515- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 939 AM CDT SUN JUN 15 2003 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LEAGUE CITY HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... MATAGORDA COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS * UNTIL 1015 AM CDT * AT 936 AM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 15 MILES SOUTHEAST OF BAY CITY...MOVING EAST AT 35 MPH. THE MATAGORDA COUNTY SHERIFFS OFFICE HAS RECEIVED NUMEROUS REPORTS OF FUNNEL CLOUDS AND TWO FUNNEL CLOUDS HAVE APPARENTLY TOUCHED THE GROUD...BECOMING TORNADOES. TORNADOES HAVE BEEN REPORTED NEAR WADSWORTH AND MARKHAM ALONG HIGHWAY 60. 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 2903 9608 2866 9595 2876 9566 2914 9588 $$
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 15, 3:58 AM CDT, 5 hours 42 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Jun 15, 3:58 AM CDT, 5 hours 42 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 358 AM CDT SUN JUN 15 2003 UPPER TROUGH OVER NORTH-CENTRAL TEXAS SLOWLY TRANSLATING SOUTHEAST... SHORT WAVE ROTATING AROUND THE SOUTHWEST END OF THE TROUGH ENHANCING DIFFLUENCE ALOFT. THUNDERSTORM COMPLEX NEAR WACO-MARLIN AREA BECOMING OUTFLOW DOMINATED AND MOVING QUICKLY SOUTHEAST. (THANKS FTW FOR COOR) THESE STORMS SHOULD MOVE SOUTHEAST INTO THE FA EARLY THIS MORNING AND MAY WEAKEN AS THEY GET AWAY FROM THE COOLER AIR ALOFT...BUT THAT MAY BE OFFSET BY THE GREATER MOISTURE. IF THEY DO WEAKEN THEN THE AREA MAY BE RIPE FOR A GOOD SEABREEZE EVENT WITH LEFT EXIT REGION OF A CYCLONICALLY CURVED UPPER SPEED MAX IMPINGING ON THE AREA AROUND 18Z...WILL CARRY 50-60 POPS TODAY. SOME MARGINAL THREAT HEAVY RAIN/SEVERE TODAY BUT NOT VERY CONFIDENT OF IT AT THIS POINT...PERHAPS A LITTLE GREATER CHANCE NEAR THE SEABREEZE THIS AFTERNOON. WILL NOT ADD MENTION OF THIS AT THE MOMENT. EXPECT THE MAJORITY OF CONVECTION TO BE FOCUSING OVER THE SOUTHERN FA BEGINNING TONIGHT THROUGH TUESDAY...AS DIFFUSE FRONTAL BOUNDARY SAGS SOUTH INTO THE NORTHERN FA. STILL SOME SIGNIFICANT DIFFERENCES IN ORIENTATION OF UPPER TROUGH AS MODELS DIVERGE IN THEIR SOLUTIONS. ECMWF STILL LIFTS THE TROUGH OUT FASTER. OTHER BIT OF INTEREST IS THE CONVECTION IN THE CARRIBEAN...AND EVENTUAL TRACK OF THIS MASS OF MOISTURE. CURRENT GUIDANCE INDICATES THE MOISTURE SHOULD LINGER OVER THE BAY OF CAMPECHE TUESDAY-THURSDAY THEN BE MOVING INTO SOUTHEAST TEXAS AND POINTS EASTWARD FRIDAY OR SATURDAY. COULD GET WET DOWN THIS WAY. 45/34 .HGX...NONE. .PRELIMS... CLL TE 88/70 88/71 89 643 IAH TE 88/72 88/73 89 544 GLS TE 87/79 87/78 88 544
Hazardous weather outlook, Jun 15, 6:30 AM CDT, 3 hours 10 minutes before
GMZ330-335-TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238- 161100- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 630 AM CDT SUN JUN 15 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT. A LINE OF SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE SOUTH INTO THE AREA BRINGING GUSTY NORTH WINDS OF 20 TO 40 MPH. SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS SHOULD DEVELOP ALONG THE SEABREEZE LATE THIS MORNING AND MOVE SLOWLY INLAND. BRIEF HEAVY DOWNPOURS MAY BRING RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF AROUND 1 INCH BUT SHOULD NOT POSE MUCH THREAT OF FLOODING. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 14, 9:22 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Harris | 38 min |
| Jun 15, 8:54 AM CDT | Special Marine Warning | HGX | 2 hr | |
| Jun 15, 10:55 AM CDT | Special Marine Warning | HGX | 2 hr | |
| Jun 15, 10:55 AM CDT | Special Marine Warning | HGX | 2 hr |
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.