Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 32, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

October 5, 2003Brazos County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Oct 5, 2003, 6:15 PM CDT for Brazos County, Texas. It was in force for 30 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
Oct 5, 2003, 6:15 PM CDT (23:15 UTC)
Expired
Oct 5, 2003, 6:45 PM CDT
In force
30 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Brazos County, TX

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

Fort Worth, TX (KFWD), launched 12:00Z, 11.3 hours before the alert went out and 268 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2003-10-05Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 419 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, Fort Worth, TX at 12:00Z on 2003-10-05The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 78 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
419 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
-62 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
872 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
20 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
78 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
64 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.

000 
WFUS54 KHGX 052315
TORHOU
TXC041-052345-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
615 PM CDT SUN OCT 5 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LEAGUE CITY HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 645 PM CDT

* AT 604 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE 
  OF PRODUCING A TORNADO OVER COLLEGE STATION...MOVING EAST          
  SOUTHEAST AT 35 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE...
  MILLICAN...WELLBORN...COLLEGE STATION

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 3066 9641 3038 9625 3042 9611 3060 9619
          3079 9619

$$

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 Oct 5, 2:24 PM CDT, 3 hours 51 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Oct 5, 2:24 PM CDT, 3 hours 51 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
224 PM CDT SUN OCT 5 2003

FRONT QUASI-STATIONARY FROM NEAR ABI-DFW-SHV LINE WITH OUTFLOW
FROM CONVECTION A LITTLE FARTHER SOUTH. SKIES OVER THE AREA HAVE
BEEN PARTLY CLOUDY EXCEPT FOR MADISON AND HOUSTON COUNTIES MOSTLY
CLOUDY. LIGHT SOUTH WINDS HAVE CONTINUED OVER THE AREA THIS
AFTERNOON. EXPECT TO SEE THE FRONTAL BOUNDARY DIP SLOWLY SOUTH
LATE TONIGHT AND MONDAY AS WEAK LL ANTICYCLONIC CIRCULATION MOVES
ACROSS THE AREA FROM EAST TO WEST AND LL CYCLONIC CIRCULATION
NEAR TXK MOVES EAST. LEFT FRONT QUAD IN SUBTROPICAL JET TO
TRAVERSE SETX LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND TONIGHT. SURFACE WINDS
TROUBLESOME AS COOL PUSH VERY WEAK. BY TUESDAY AFTERNOON ETA/GFS
AGREE THAT THE BOUNDARY WILL HAVE MOVED INTO THE COASTAL COUNTIES
OR COASTAL WATERS...BUT IN THE MEANTIME THE ISSUE IS PLACEMENT OF
WINDSHIFT. RAIN-COOLED AIR AND STRONGER CAA (ALBEIT WEAK) DIRECTED
INTO LA SO WILL BRING THE BOUNDARY IN THE BACKDOOR THROUGH TRINITY
COUNTY TONIGHT AND UTS IN THE AM AND IAH AROUND MIDNIGHT. OUTFLOW
FROM NORTH CENTRAL TEXAS SHOULD PUSH AN OUTFLOW INTO CLL AREA
LATE THIS AFTERNOON OR EARLY EVENING. CONVERGENCE ALONG THE
BOUNDARY APPEARS TO BE AT ITS PEAK THROUGH MIDNIGHT THEN WANES
QUICKLY. SHOULD GET ANOTHER ROUND OF FOG SOUTH OF THE BOUNDARY AND
IFR CONDITIONS AFTER 10Z LIFR POSSIBLE FOR CIGS AND VISBY.
DIFFERENTIAL HEATING MAY BE AN ISSUE FOR MONDAY BUT WILL LET THE
CHANCE POPS RIDE. ETA TRYING TO SPIN SOMETHING UP ALONG THE FRONTAL
BOUNDARY NORTH OF THE YUCATAN AND GIVEN ETAS PAST PERFORMANCE WILL
IGNORE THIS AND FAVOR THE GFS FOR TUESDAY AFTERNOON AND BEYOND.
SLIGHT DRYING FROM THE NORTHEAST THROUGH TUE-THU. PROFILE BEGINS TO
MOISTEN UP ON FRIDAY BUT LARGE SYNOPTIC SCALE FEATURES REMAIN WELL
REMOVED FROM OUR REGION. ECMWF HAS TRENDED LESS PROGRESSIVE
SOMEWHERE IN BETWEEN THE SLOWER MRF YESTERDAY AND TODAYS FASTER
RUN...LEADING TO A PACIFIC FRONT MOVING INTO THE REGION LATE SUNDAY
OR MONDAY.

45/47/D

.HGX...NONE.
CLL EE 067/083 067/085 065 443
IAH CE 068/083 068/085 065 243
GLS EE 071/083 070/082 070 223
Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 5, 5:00 PM CDT, 1 hour 15 minutes before
GMZ330-335-350-355-370-375-TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-
227-235>238-061200-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK...UPDATED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
500 PM CDT SUN OCT 5 2003

...ISOLATED SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS POSSIBLE TONIGHT OVER THE NORTHERN
PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS...

THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS.

.DAY ONE...TONIGHT.
AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL APPROACH SOUTHEAST TEXAS TONIGHT
PRODUCING SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS MAINLY OVER THE
NORTHERN PORTIONS OF SOUTHEAST TEXAS. THE POTENTIAL EXISTS FOR
ISOLATED STORMS TO BECOME SEVERE NORTH OF A LINE FROM COLUMBUS TO
CONROE TO LIVINGSTON. LARGE HAIL WOULD BE THE PRIMARY THREAT WITH
DAMAGING WINDS ALSO POSSIBLE.

.DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...MONDAY THROUGH SATURDAY.
HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT 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.

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Oct 5, 5:46 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazos, Burleson44 min
Oct 5, 6:31 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXGrimes44 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.