Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 2003

Tornado Watch 751

July 15, 200314 counties in Texas

The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Jul 15, 2003, 12:05 PM CDT for 14 counties in Texas. It was in force for 7 hr.

The area

The outline as issued.

The facts

Issued: Jul 15, 2003, 12:05 PM CDT (17:05 UTC)
Expired: Jul 15, 2003, 7:00 PM CDT
In force: 7 hr
Issued by: the Storm Prediction Center

Counties Aransas County, TX, Brazoria County, TX, Calhoun County, TX, Chambers County, TX, Fort Bend County, TX, Galveston County, TX, Goliad County, TX, Harris County, TX, Jackson County, TX, Liberty County, TX, Matagorda County, TX, Refugio County, TX, Victoria County, TX, Wharton County, TX

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 139 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 17:07 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

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

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 15, 12:44 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	CRP	Aransas, Calhoun, Refugio, Victoria	4 hr
Jul 15, 12:52 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	HGX	Brazoria, Jackson, Matagorda, Wharton	3 hr
Jul 15, 1:09 PM CDT	Tornado Warning	CRP	Aransas, Goliad, Refugio, Victoria	111 min
Jul 15, 1:43 PM CDT	Flash Flood Warning	CRP	Bee, Goliad	4 hr

Discussions around it

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

Mesoscale Discussion 1853Jul 15, 9:48 AM CDT

The nearest sounding before it

Corpus Christi, TX (KCRP), launched 12:00Z, 5.1 hours before the alert went out and 168 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: 403 J/kg
Mixed-layer CIN: -39 J/kg
Mixed-layer LCL: 983 m above ground
0-6 km bulk shear: 22 kt
0-1 km storm-relative helicity: 68 m²/s²
0-3 km storm-relative helicity: 136 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 
WWUS20 KWNS 151657
SEL1  
SPC WW 151655
TXZ000-CWZ000-160000-

URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 751 CORR 1
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK 
1155 AM CDT TUE JUL 15 2003

CORRECTED FOR EXPIRATION TIME

THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF 

  MIDDLE AND UPPER TEXAS COAST      
  COASTAL WATERS       

EFFECTIVE THIS TUESDAY MORNING AND EVENING FROM 1155 AM UNTIL 700
PM CDT.

TORNADOES...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS
LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.

THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 35 STATUTE MILES EITHER SIDE
OF A LINE FROM 10 MILES SOUTH SOUTHEAST OF BEEVILLE TEXAS TO 45
MILES NORTH NORTHEAST OF GALVESTON TEXAS.

REMEMBER...A TORNADO WATCH MEANS CONDITIONS ARE FAVORABLE FOR
TORNADOES AND SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS IN AND CLOSE TO THE WATCH AREA.
PERSONS IN THESE AREAS SHOULD BE ON THE LOOKOUT FOR THREATENING
WEATHER CONDITIONS AND LISTEN FOR LATER STATEMENTS AND POSSIBLE
WARNINGS.

OTHER WATCH INFORMATION...THIS TORNADO WATCH REPLACES TORNADO
WATCH NUMBER 749. WATCH NUMBER 749 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER
1155 AM CDT. 


DISCUSSION...HURRICANE CLAUDETTE MOVING INLAND VICINITY PORT LAVACA
AND WILL CONTINUE WWD. SEVERAL FEEDER BANDS WILL BE MOVING ONSHORE
E OF CENTER CONTINUING THREAT OF ISOLATED TORNADOES.



AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH EXTREME
TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI
WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 450. MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 09040.


...HALES

284,0975 302,0944 292,0941 274,0971

SPC that day

Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.

Issued	Product	Office	Counties	Lasted
Jul 15, 1:41 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Austin, Brazoria, Chambers, Colorado, Fort Bend, Galveston and 4 more	3 hr
Jul 15, 6:40 AM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Hardin, Harris and 4 more	6 hr
Jul 15, 7:57 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Brazoria, Chambers, Fort Bend, Galveston, Hardin, Jackson and 3 more	4 hr
Jul 15, 9:48 AM CDT	Mesoscale Discussion	SPC	Brazoria, Calhoun, Colorado, DeWitt, Fort Bend, Goliad and 8 more	117 min
Jul 15, 3:00 PM CDT	Tornado Watch	SPC	Atascosa, Bee, DeWitt, Frio, Goliad, Jackson and 7 more	7 hr

Nearby

Tornado Watches in Texas, 2003 Every tornado 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.