Alert archive / Texas / Severe Thunderstorm Watches in 2003

Severe Thunderstorm Watch 953

November 17, 200318 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this severe thunderstorm watch at Nov 17, 2003, 6:55 PM CST for 18 counties in Texas. It was in force for 5 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Nov 17, 2003, 6:55 PM CST (00:55 UTC)
Expired: Nov 18, 2003, 12:00 AM CST
In force: 5 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Austin County, TX, Brazoria County, TX, Colorado County, TX, Fort Bend County, TX, Grimes County, TX, Harris County, TX, Jackson County, TX, Liberty County, TX, Madison County, TX, Matagorda County, TX, Montgomery County, TX, Polk County, TX, San Jacinto County, TX, Victoria County, TX, Walker County, TX, Waller County, TX, Washington County, TX, Wharton County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 91 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 00:55 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.

Warnings issued inside it

6 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 17, 8:26 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Harris	34 min
Nov 17, 8:28 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Brazoria, Galveston	32 min
Nov 17, 8:32 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Harris	28 min
Nov 17, 9:06 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Galveston, Harris	24 min
Nov 17, 9:38 PM CST	Flash Flood Warning	HGX	Brazoria, Galveston, Harris	3 hr
Nov 17, 10:09 PM CST	Tornado Warning	HGX	Liberty	36 min

Discussions around it

SPC mesoscale discussions over the same counties from four hours before the watch to its end.

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 00:00Z, 0.9 hours before the alert went out and 246 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-p

Temperature in red, dew point in green, the mixed-layer parcel dashed.

Hodograph

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: 1329 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -17 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 929 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 40 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 129 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 152 m²/s²
Significant tornado parameter: 0.9
Supercell composite: 6.6

Open this sounding in Storm Lab

The text

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

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SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Nov 17, 7:48 PM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Anderson, Angelina, Bowie, Camp, Cass, Cherokee and 13 more	87 min
Nov 17, 8:10 PM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston and 21 more	95 min
Nov 17, 9:25 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Sabine, San Augustine, Shelby	7 hr
Nov 17, 10:53 PM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Hardin, Harris and 8 more	97 min
Nov 17, 11:44 PM CST	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Sabine, San Augustine	91 min
Nov 17, 11:50 PM CST	Tornado Watch	SPC	Jasper, Jefferson, Newton, Orange	5 hr

Nearby

Severe Thunderstorm Watches in Texas, 2003 Every severe thunderstorm watch 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.