Alert archive / Texas / Tornado Watches in 2003
Tornado Watch 952
The Storm Prediction Center issued this tornado watch at Nov 17, 2003, 5:35 PM CST for Beauregard Parish, Calcasieu Parish, Vernon Parish, Louisiana; 8 counties in Texas. It was in force for 6 hr.
The area
The outline as issued.
The facts
- Issued
- Nov 17, 2003, 5:35 PM CST (23:35 UTC)
- Expired
- Nov 18, 2003, 12:00 AM CST
- In force
- 6 hr
- Issued by
- the Storm Prediction Center
Counties Beauregard Parish, LA, Calcasieu Parish, LA, Vernon Parish, LA, Chambers County, TX, Galveston County, TX, Hardin County, TX, Jasper County, TX, Jefferson County, TX, Newton County, TX, Orange County, TX, Tyler County, TX
The radar
The Houston radar (KHGX), 74 km from the middle of the area, began a volume at 23:37 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
11 tornado, severe thunderstorm and flash flood warnings for its counties while it was in force.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 17, 5:59 PM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Hardin | 46 min |
| Nov 17, 6:01 PM CST | Tornado Warning | HGX | Chambers, Liberty | 44 min |
| Nov 17, 8:10 PM CST | Severe Thunderstorm Warning | LCH | Jasper, Newton | 65 min |
| Nov 17, 8:28 PM CST | Tornado Warning | HGX | Brazoria, Galveston | 32 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, 10:40 PM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Hardin | 65 min |
| Nov 17, 10:50 PM CST | Flash Flood Warning | LCH | Hardin, Tyler | 4 hr |
| Nov 17, 11:09 PM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Tyler | 36 min |
| Nov 17, 11:26 PM CST | Tornado Warning | HGX | Chambers | 49 min |
| Nov 17, 11:26 PM CST | Tornado Warning | LCH | Jasper, Newton | 49 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
Lake Charles Mun, LA (KLCH), launched 12:00Z, 11.6 hours before the alert went out and 121 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
- 413 J/kg
- Mixed-layer CIN
- -43 J/kg
- Mixed-layer LCL
- 895 m above ground
- 0-6 km bulk shear
- 34 kt
- 0-1 km storm-relative helicity
- 101 m²/s²
- 0-3 km storm-relative helicity
- 95 m²/s²
- Significant tornado parameter
- 0.1
- Supercell composite
- 2.1
The text
As transmitted, in the capitals the NWS used until 2016.
000
WWUS20 KWNS 172337
SEL2
SPC WW 172335
LAZ000-TXZ000-CWZ000-180600-
URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED
TORNADO WATCH NUMBER 952
NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK
535 PM CST MON NOV 17 2003
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A
TORNADO WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF
SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
SOUTHEAST TEXAS
COASTAL WATERS
EFFECTIVE THIS MONDAY AFTERNOON FROM 535 PM UNTIL MIDNIGHT CST.
TORNADOES...HAIL TO 1 INCH IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS
TO 70 MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.
THE TORNADO WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 50 STATUTE MILES EAST AND WEST
OF A LINE FROM 15 MILES WEST NORTHWEST OF FORT POLK LOUISIANA TO
35 MILES SOUTH 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 950. WATCH NUMBER 950 WILL NOT BE IN EFFECT AFTER 535
PM CST. CONTINUE...WW 949...WW 951...
DISCUSSION...MCS WITH EMBEDDED HP SUPERCELLS WILL CONTINUE TO
DEVELOP EWD FROM THE GALVESTON BAY AREA E/NEWD TOWARD SW LA THE NEXT
FEW HOURS. BOUNDARY LAYER DEWPOINTS IN THE LOWER 70S WILL SUPPORT
MODERATE INSTABILITY AND STRONG UPDRAFTS...WHILE THE STRONGEST
LOW-LEVEL FLOW/SHEAR WILL SPREAD EWD FROM SE TX TOWARD W/SW LA
TONIGHT. THE TORNADO THREAT WILL BE MAXIMIZED ALONG THE E/SE
PERIPHERY OF THE LARGER MCS WHERE L0W-LEVEL MOISTURE/SHEAR WILL BE
THE STRONGEST.
AVIATION...TORNADOES AND A FEW SEVERE THUNDERSTORMS WITH HAIL
SURFACE AND ALOFT TO 1 INCH. EXTREME TURBULENCE AND SURFACE WIND
GUSTS TO 60 KNOTS. A FEW CUMULONIMBI WITH MAXIMUM TOPS TO 550.
MEAN STORM MOTION VECTOR 22020.
...THOMPSON
310,0923 284,0935 284,0953 310,0941SPC that day
Everything else SPC issued on the same UTC day.
| Issued | Product | Office | Counties | Lasted |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 17, 8:20 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Calcasieu | 5 hr |
| Nov 17, 12:45 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Calcasieu | 5 hr |
| Nov 17, 2:57 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bossier, Caddo, De Soto, Webster | 2 hr |
| Nov 17, 5:07 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Acadia, Allen, Avoyelles, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Cameron and 14 more | 53 min |
| Nov 17, 5:25 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bossier, Caddo, Webster | 65 min |
| Nov 16, 6:02 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Armstrong, Briscoe, Childress, Cottle, Crosby, Dickens and 12 more | 118 min |
| Nov 17, 1:11 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Clay, Hardeman, Hemphill, Lipscomb, Montague, Wheeler and 2 more | 3 hr |
| Nov 17, 7:11 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Anderson, Angelina, Austin, Brazos, Burleson, Cherokee and 40 more | 3 hr |
| Nov 17, 7:43 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Cooke, Fannin, Grayson, Lamar, Montague | 3 hr |
| Nov 17, 8:15 AM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Archer, Clay, Collin, Cooke, Dallas, Denton and 11 more | 5 hr |
| Nov 17, 9:58 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Bandera, Bexar, Blanco, Brown, Burnet, Callahan and 36 more | 92 min |
| Nov 17, 10:21 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Brazoria, Calhoun, Chambers, Fort Bend, Hardin, Harris and 6 more | 84 min |
| Nov 17, 10:59 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Archer, Clay, Collin, Cooke, Dallas, Denton and 11 more | 91 min |
| Nov 17, 11:50 AM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Anderson, Angelina, Aransas, Austin, Bell, Bosque and 75 more | 85 min |
| Nov 17, 12:20 PM CST | Tornado Watch | SPC | Bell, Bosque, Collin, Comanche, Cooke, Coryell and 36 more | 6 hr |
| Nov 17, 3:02 PM CST | Mesoscale Discussion | SPC | Austin, Brazoria, Calhoun, Chambers, Colorado, DeWitt and 16 more | 88 min |
Nearby
Tornado Watches in Texas, 2003Tornado Watches in Louisiana, 2003Every 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.