Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 21, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

June 17, 2003Galveston County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 17, 2003, 1:21 PM CDT for Galveston County, Texas. It was in force for 24 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 17, 2003, 1:21 PM CDT (18:21 UTC)
Expired
Jun 17, 2003, 1:45 PM CDT
In force
24 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Galveston County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 25 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 18:24 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.

The nearest sounding before it

Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 6.4 hours before the alert went out and 191 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 2003-06-17Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 1663 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 2003-06-17The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 46 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
1663 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-22 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
770 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
14 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
46 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
51 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
0.0
Supercell composite
0.0

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

358 
WFUS54 KHGX 171821
TORHOU
TXC167-171845-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
119 PM CDT TUE JUN 17 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LEAGUE CITY HAS ISSUED A

* TORNADO WARNING FOR...
  SOUTHERN GALVESTON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS

* UNTIL 145 PM CDT

* AT 109 PM CDT...COAST GUARD REPORTED A TORNADO BETWEEN THE CAUSEWAY
  AND SCHOLES FIELD. THE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING THE TORNADO WAS MOVING
  WEST AT 5 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE...
  TIKI ISLAND
  GALVESTON...BAYOU VISTA
  GALVESTON STATE PARK...JAMAICA BEACH...HITCHCOCK

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 2930 9504 2917 9500 2929 9472 2938 9486

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 17, 1:23 PM CDTSpecial Marine WarningHGX97 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.