Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 26, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

July 24, 2003Jackson County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Jul 24, 2003, 5:13 PM CDT for Jackson County, Texas. It was in force for 47 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
Jul 24, 2003, 5:13 PM CDT (22:13 UTC)
Expired
Jul 24, 2003, 6:00 PM CDT
In force
47 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Jackson County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 154 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:14 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, 10.2 hours before the alert went out and 162 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 2003-07-24Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 2417 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, Corpus Christi, TX at 12:00Z on 2003-07-24The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity -20 square meters per square second.1939Sfc1 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
2417 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-27 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
703 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
17 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
-20 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
57 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.

649 
WFUS54 KHGX 242213
TORHOU
TXC239-242300-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
512 PM CDT THU JUL 24 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LEAGUE CITY HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 600 PM CDT

* AT 510 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE     
  OF PRODUCING A TORNADO 6 MILES NORTH OF GANADO...MOVING 
  WEST-SOUTHWEST AT 20 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE...
  CORDELE
  GANADO 
  EDNA
  
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 2906 9642 2915 9656 2904 9684 2882 9669

$$

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 Jul 24, 2:55 PM CDT, 2 hours 18 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Jul 24, 2:55 PM CDT, 2 hours 18 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
255 PM CDT THU JUL 24 2003

KHGX SHOWS AN ACTIVE AFTERNOON ACROSS CENTRAL AND COASTAL ZONES
AS HEATING...A SFC TROF...AND WEAK SEA BREEZE HAVE PRODUCED SCT
STRONG SHWRS AND TSTMS. EXPECT SCT ACTIVITY TO CONTINUE TO DEVELOP
INTO THE EARLY EVENING HOURS. NORTHERN AREAS ARE LIKELY TO ONLY SEE
ISOLATED ACTIVITY. WILL KEEP POP WORDING ALL NIGHT WITH N/NE FLOW
ALOFT AND WEAK DISTURBANCES CONTINUING TO MOVE ACROSS SE TEXAS.
USING THE DW PT FIELD...THE FRONT IS LOCATED ACROSS CENTRAL
LOUISIANA TO NEAR TYLER TEXAS. THERE IS A WEAK CONVERGENT ZONE TO
THE SOUTHWEST OF THIS FEATURE IN THE VICINITY OF A SFC TROF.
WILL INCLUDE PATCHY FOG FOR NORTHERN AREAS AS LIGHT WINDS AND
SLIGHTLY COOLER DW PTS EXPECTED WITH A WET GROUND IN PLACE.

FOR THE REST OF THE FORECAST PACKAGE...HAVE DECIDED TO KEEP CHC POPS
IN THE FORECAST FOR THE FORESEEABLE FUTURE. WEAK UPPER LEVEL SHEAR
AXIS WILL BE LEFT BEHIND OVER THE AREA THROUGH THE WEEKEND AS A
MID-UPPER LEVEL RIDGE BUILDS NORTH OF THE AREA. THIS FLOW PATTERN IS
NOT LIKELY TO EVER PRODUCE ENOUGH SUBSIDENCE TO SHUT DOWN PRECIP
DURING THE AFT/EVE HOURS. EXPECT PW VALUES TO REMAIN CLOSE TO WHERE
THEY ARE NOW. BECAUSE OF THESE HIGH MOISTURE LEVELS WHICH HAVE NOT
BEEN HANDLED TOO WELL BY THE MODELS OF LATE...WILL FORECAST HIGHER
THAN GUIDANCE FOR THE POP TOMORROW. WILL STILL HAVE MULTIPLE
BOUNDARIES IN PLACE TO WORK WITH AS WELL.

NEXT WEEK...THE MID/UPPER LEVEL RIDGE WILL RETROGRADE BACK TO THE
ROCKIES AND A DOWNSTREAM TROF WILL DEVELOP OVER THE EASTERN U.S.
THIS WILL BRING A SIMILAR...BUT LIKELY SLIGHTLY LESS AMPLIFIED
PATTERN THAT WHAT WE ARE SEEING NOW. WILL CONTINUE TO FORECAST A
CHANCE OF RAIN ALL OF NEXT WEEK.

33/45

.HGX...NONE.

PRELIMS...
CLL BB 075/094 074/095 074 232
IAH BB 075/092 075/093 075 342
GLS BB 080/089 080/089 080 342
Hazardous weather outlook, Jul 24, 11:10 AM CDT, 6 hours 3 minutes before
GMZ330-335-TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-251200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
1110 AM CDT THU JUL 24 2003

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS.

...LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL POSSIBLE THIS AFTERNOON ACROSS CENTRAL AND
SOUTHERN AREAS...

.DAY ONE...TODAY AND TONIGHT.
AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE AND SURFACE BOUNDARIES WILL PRODUCE
SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TODAY. THE SLOWER MOVING
THUNDERSTORMS WILL PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. ISOLATED RAINFALL
AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 4 INCHES ARE POSSIBLE. THE THREAT AREA IS ALONG AND
SOUTH OF A MADISONVILLE TO HUNTSVILLE TO CLEVELAND LINE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY.
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
Jul 24, 3:34 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHarris41 min
Jul 24, 4:27 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXWharton48 min
Jul 24, 4:33 PM CDTTornado WarningHGXWharton42 min
Jul 24, 4:53 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXColorado52 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.