Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2003
Tornado Warning 42, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Oct 9, 2003, 10:23 PM CDT for Galveston County, Texas. It was in force for 37 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 9, 2003, 10:23 PM CDT (03:23 UTC)
- Expired
- Oct 9, 2003, 11:00 PM CDT
- In force
- 37 min
- Issued by
- NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
- Area
- Counties, with a storm outline in the text
County Galveston 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
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 00:00Z, 3.4 hours before the alert went out and 151 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
- 36 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -65 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 636 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 27 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 114 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 184 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 100323 TORHOU TXC167-100400- BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED TORNADO WARNING NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 1024 PM CDT THU OCT 9 2003 THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LEAGUE CITY HAS ISSUED A * TORNADO WARNING FOR... GALVESTON COUNTY IN SOUTHEAST TEXAS * UNTIL 1100 PM CDT * AT 1020 PM CDT...DOPPLER RADAR INDICATED A THUNDERSTORM CAPABLE OF PRODUCING A TORNADO OVER EAST BAY OR 5 MILES NORTH OF CRYSTAL BEACH...MOVING SOUTH AT 10 MPH. * LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE... CRYSTAL BEACH 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 2955 9456 2950 9469 2938 9464 2945 9446 $$
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 9, 8:50 PM CDT, 1 hour 33 minutes earlier.
Area forecast discussion, Oct 9, 8:50 PM CDT, 1 hour 33 minutes before
SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 850 PM CDT THU OCT 9 2003 WILL HAVE AN LSR OUT SHORTLY TO DETAIL TODAYS TORNADOES. HEAVY RAIN PELTED THE AREA TODAY WITH MOST LOCATIONS RECEIVING 3 TO 4 INCHES OF RAIN. NEW IAH TOTAL IS 3.58 INCHES. AS 50H S/WV SHIFTS EAST...FEEL MOST OF THE PRECIPITATION WILL ALSO BE PULLED EAST. THE RUC ROTATES A LOBE OF PVA THROUGH THE AREA BETWEEN 06Z AND 09Z...SO AM RELUCTANT TO PULL POPS NEAR THE COAST. WILL LOWER POPS SIGNIFICANTLY NORTH. IF SKIES CAN PARTIALLY CLEAR NORTH...FOG WILL BE A PROBLEM BY MORNING. WILL HIT FOG THREAT A LITTLE HARDER NORTH IN NEW ZFP. 43/33 PREVIOUS: SHORT WAVE CURRENTLY MOVING ESE ACROSS OUR CWA WITH WIDESPREAD MODERATE TO OCCASIONALLY HEAVY RAIN PREVAILING. BELIEVE THE THREAT OF SOME ADDITIONAL LOW TOP SPINNERS IS GOING DOWN AS I TYPE BASED ON OUR LATEST VWP. ADDITIONAL SCT PRECIP IS BEGINNING TO DEVELOP TO OUR WEST AND SOUTH WHERE BREAKS OF SUNSHINE HAVE ALLOWED TEMPS TO CLIMB INTO THE MID 80S. APPEARS RAINFALL WILL MOSTLY END FROM WEST TO EAST DURING THE OVERNIGHT HOURS. DONT THINK LLVLS OF THE ATMOS WILL DRY OUT ALL THAT MUCH IN THE WAKE OF THE PASSING SHORTWAVE...ESP SW ZONES. WILL MAINTAIN 20-40% POPS FOR FRI. NEXT FRONT/WIND SHIFT FORECAST ON SUNDAY. THIS SYSTEM DOES NOT APPEAR ALL THAT IMPRESSIVE TEMPERATURE-WISE NOR DOES IT DRY US OUT ALL THAT MUCH EITHER. STRONGER FRONT LOOKS TO ARRIVE NEXT TUESDAY. SO OVERALL...LOWISH POPS REMAIN IN THE FCST FOR THE NEXT 5-7 DAYS. SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL THE MEDIA OUTLETS AND SPOTTERS THAT RELAYED REPORTS TO US EARLIER THIS MORNING THOSE TYPE OF STORMS ARE WHAT WE TYPICALLY SEE IN THE SUMMER MONTHS DURING THE MORNING HOURS THAT MANY TIMES PRODUCE FUNNELS/WATERSPOUTS AND ARE A BEAR TO WARN ON. THE REPORTS REALLY HELPED OUT... 47/45 .HGX...NONE. CLL BB 069/084 067/084 065 521 IAH EB 071/082 068/084 066 832 GLS EB 075/081 074/082 073 842
Hazardous weather outlook, Oct 9, 3:50 PM CDT, 6 hours 33 minutes before
GMZ330-335-350-355-370-375-TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226- 227-235>238-100500- HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX 350 PM CDT THU OCT 9 2003 ...HEAVY RAINFALL THREAT THROUGH THE EVENING HOURS...... THIS HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK IS FOR SOUTHEAST TEXAS. .DAY ONE...TONIGHT. RAIN WITH EMBEDDED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORM WILL CONTINUE ALONG A WEAK BOUNDARY FROM THE NAVASOTA AREA TO LAKE HOUSTON TO BEAUMONT AREA. AN UPPER LEVEL DISTURBANCE WILL MOVE EAST OVER THE BOUNDARY FOCUSING THE HEAVIER RAINFALL AS IT MOVES EAST THIS EVENING. SCATTERED SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS WILL MOVE INTO PORTIONS OF THE AREA FROM THE SOUTHWEST AS WELL THOUGH ACCUMULATIONS FROM THESE SHOULD BE LESS. RAINFALL ACCUMULATIONS OF 1 INCH WILL BE FAIRLY COMMON WITH ISOLATED AMOUNTS OF 3 TO 4 INCHES POSSIBLE IN MAINLY HARRIS...MONTGOMERY...AND LIBERTY COUNTIES. .DAYS TWO THROUGH SEVEN...FRIDAY THROUGH WEDNESDAY. HAZARDOUS WEATHER IS NOT EXPECTED AT THIS TIME. .SPOTTER INFORMATION STATEMENT... SPOTTER ACTIVATION IS NOT ANTICIPATED AT THIS TIME.
In the hours before
Local storm report, Oct 9, 8:58 PM CDT, 1 hour 25 minutes before
PRELIMINARY LOCAL STORM REPORT...CORRECTED
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
858 PM CDT THU OCT 09 2003
TIME(CDT) .....CITY LOCATION.....STATE ...EVENT/REMARKS...
....COUNTY LOCATION....
1143 AM 3 W LIBERTY TX F0 TORNADO
10/09/03 LIBERTY POWER LINES DOWN ACROSS
HIGHWAY 90 IN RAYWOOD.
0505 PM 1 W WEBSTER TX F0 TORNADO
10/09/03 HARRIS ROOF DAMAGE TO APARTMENT
COMPLEX IN FRIENDSWOOD AT
BLACKHAWK AND FM 528.
0512 PM WHARTON TX F0 TORNADO
10/09/03 WHARTON STORE ROOF DAMAGED AND 2
GAS PUMPS UPROOTED.
0545 PM 1 W IOWA COLONY TX F0 TORNADO
10/09/03 BRAZORIA BARN DAMAGED
0545 PM 1 S FRESNO TX F0 TORNADO
10/09/03 FORT BEND TORNADO TOUCHDOWN REPORTED
AT INTERSECTION OF FM 521
AND CR 58.
LWThe office that day
Everything else NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 9, 7:04 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Galveston | 116 min |
| Oct 9, 8:10 PM CDT | Flash Flood Warning | HGX | Brazoria | 2 hr |
| Oct 9, 8:44 PM CDT | Tornado Warning | HGX | Brazoria | 46 min |
| Oct 9, 9:10 PM CDT | Special Marine Warning | HGX | 65 min | |
| Oct 9, 10:22 PM CDT | Special Marine Warning | HGX | 113 min | |
| Oct 10, 12:31 AM CDT | Special Marine Warning | HGX | 59 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.