Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2003
Tornado Warning 29, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Sep 4, 2003, 5:50 PM CDT for Harris County, Texas. It was in force for 40 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
- Sep 4, 2003, 5:50 PM CDT (22:50 UTC)
- Expired
- Sep 4, 2003, 6:30 PM CDT
- In force
- 40 min
- Issued by
- NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Harris County, TX
The radar
The Houston radar (KHGX), 76 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 22:53 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, 10.8 hours before the alert went out and 235 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
- 503 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -72 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 1068 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 0 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- -23 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- -15 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.0
- Supercell composite
- 0.0
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000 WFUS54 KHGX 042250 TORHOU TXC201-042330- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 550 PM CDT THU SEP 4 2003 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LEAGUE CITY HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... HARRIS COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS * UNTIL 630 PM CDT * AT 548 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A TORNADO NEAR JERSEY VILLAGE...MOVING WEST SOUTHWEST AT 5 MPH. * LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE... JERSEY VILLAGE 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 3000 9584 2977 9568 2992 9540 3006 9542 $$
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 Sep 4, 2:30 PM CDT, 3 hours 20 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Sep 4, 2:30 PM CDT, 3 hours 20 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 230 PM CDT THU SEP 4 2003 SCATTERED SHRA/TSRA INDICATED OVER EASTERN AND SOUTHWEST ZONES OF CWFA. EXPECT SCATTERED CONVECTION SPREADING REST OF REGION EXCEPT POSSIBLY NW ZONES BY LATE AFTERNOON. WATER VAPOR LOOP INDICATE TUTT LOW OVER WESTERN GULF WHILE TROPICAL DEPRESSION IS CHURNING OVER THE NE GULF. 60S SFC DEWPOINTS NOW FILTERING IN OVER NE TEXAS AS WEAK NORTHERLY FLOW CONTINUES. BUOYS 035 AND 019 REPORTING NEARLY SMOOTH SEAS W/NORTH WINDS AT 4 KTS. GRADUAL DRYING OF AIR MASS OVER REGION WILL BE FROM NE TO SW DUE TO ORIENTATION OF SURFACE RIDGE. MODELS ARE SHOWING MOISTURE POOLING OVER SW ZONES FRIDAY MORNING. TUTT LOW IS INDICATED BY ETA MOVING NORTH AND THEN LINGERING NEAR THE SABINE REGION THIS WEEKEND. WE EXPECT SOME MID/HIGH LEVEL CLOUDS OVER REGION FRIDAY AND SATURDAY...THINNING BY SUNDAY AS UPPER TROUGH MOVES SLIGHTLY TO THE EAST. LOWER LEVELS WILL BE DRY THIS WEEKEND THOUGH AS SURFACE HIGH PRESSURE DOMINATE. WITH DEWPOINTS DROPPING TO THE 60S THIS WEEKEND...WE EXPECT MIN TEMPS TO FOLLOW. HOWEVER ...DAYTIME HIGHS SHOULD BE CLOSE TO SEASONAL NORMS. GRADUAL INCREASE IN MOISTURE IS EXPECTED NEXT WEEK. GFS IS SHOWING WEAK MID LEVEL TROUGH DEVELOPING OVER REGION BY THE MIDDLE OF NEXT WEEK. WE SHALL LEAVE SLIGHT CHANCE POPS FOR THAT PERIOD. 37/47 .HGX...NONE. CLL 070/090 065/091 064 21- IAH 071/090 066/090 065 32- GLS 077/087 072/086 072 321
Hazardous weather outlook, Sep 4, 3:35 PM CDT, 2 hours 15 minutes before
GMZ330-335-350-355-370-375-TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227- 235>238-051200- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 335 PM CDT THU SEP 4 2003 THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. EXPECT SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MAINLY THIS EVENING. SOME OF THE STRONGER STORMS MAY PRODUCE LOCALLY HEAVY RAINFALL. OTHERWISE...NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS ANTICIPATED. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. NO HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT EXPECTED.
The office that day
Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 4, 2:51 PM CDT | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | HGX | Brazoria | 39 min |
| Sep 4, 3:15 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Brazoria | 2 hr |
| Sep 4, 4:15 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Harris | 2 hr |
| Sep 4, 5:08 PM CDT | Special Marine Warning | HGX | 67 min | |
| Sep 4, 5:22 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Galveston | 113 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.