Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Warnings in 2003

Tornado Warning 9, NWS Houston/Galveston, TX

June 12, 2003Polk County, Texas

NWS Houston/Galveston, TX issued this tornado warning at Jun 12, 2003, 2:03 PM CDT for Polk County, Texas. It was in force for 27 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 12, 2003, 2:03 PM CDT (19:03 UTC)
Expired
Jun 12, 2003, 2:30 PM CDT
In force
27 min
Issued by
NWS Houston/Galveston, TX
Area
Counties, with a storm outline in the text

County Polk County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 143 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 19:06 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, 7.1 hours before the alert went out and 174 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 2003-06-12Temperature and dew point through the depth of the atmosphere, with the mixed-layer parcel. CAPE 3708 joules per kilogram.LCLEL10008507005003002001001 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 2003-06-12The wind through the lowest 10 kilometers. Zero to 1 km storm-relative helicity 111 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
3708 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN
0 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL
565 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear
28 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity
111 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity
144 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter
2.1
Supercell composite
14.4

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

785 
WFUS54 KHGX 121903
TORHOU
TXC373-121930-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
TORNADO WARNING
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
201 PM CDT THU JUN 12 2003

THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE IN LEAGUE CITY HAS ISSUED A

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

* UNTIL 230 PM CDT

* AT 156 PM CDT...THE PUBLIC REPORTED TO LAW ENFORCEMENT A TORNADO 
NEAR LIVINGSTON.  RADAR INDICATED THE THUNDERSTORM PRODUCING THE 
TORNADO MOVING EAST AT 25 MPH.

* LOCATIONS IN THE PATH OF THE TORNADO INCLUDE...
  LIVINGSTON...LEGGETT
  ALABAMA-COUSHATTA RESERVATION

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 3076 9504 3063 9489 3067 9464 3092 9469

$$

The office that day

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

IssuedProductOfficeCountiesLasted
Jun 12, 2:05 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXBrazos25 min
Jun 12, 2:38 AM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXGrimes22 min
Jun 12, 1:14 PM CDTTornado WarningHGXGrimes31 min
Jun 12, 2:17 PM CDTTornado WarningHGXWalker28 min
Jun 12, 6:50 PM CDTSevere Thunderstorm WarningHGXHouston55 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.