Tornadoes in Texas, December 12, 2001

Name: Tornadoes in Texas, December 12, 2001
Start: 2001-12-12T02:20
End: 2001-12-12T02:33
Location: Texas

December 12, 2001 · NWS HGX · 2 events in 1 county or zone

2 tornado, as filed by the National Weather Service.

Where it happened

Every event with a place to put it. Tap one for its entry below.

Tornadoes
Tropical storms and surge
Floods
Wind
Hail
Winter weather
Heat and drought
Cold
Fire, smoke and dust
Marine and coastal
Other

Open the live radar over this ground

The toll

Deaths: 0
Injuries: 0
Property damage: $400,000
Crop damage: None recorded
Events: 2

Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.

What forecasters said that day

The local office's own words before the first event, 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 the first event at Dec 11, 9:00 PM CST, 5 hours 20 minutes earlier.

Area forecast discussion, Dec 11, 9:00 PM CST, 5 hours 20 minutes before

SOUTHEAST TEXAS FORECAST DISCUSSION
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
900 PM CST TUE DEC 11 2001

KHGX SHOWS EXTENSIVE SHRA/TSRA ACROSS THE CWA AT MID EVENING.
REGIONAL 88DS SHOW WIDESPREAD COVERAGE TO THE NE...WITH ISOLD TO SCT
COVERAGE OVER SCNTRL TX AND THE LOWER COAST. SFC OBS INDICATE THE
WARM FRONT ROUGHLY ALONG I-10 ATTM...WITH SRLY WINDS TO THE SOUTH
AND ERLY WINDS TO THE NORTH. THE MAIN UPDATE ISSUES ARE POPS/TEMPS
TONIGHT...AND SEVERE/HEAVY RAIN THREAT FOR WED.

THE CURRENT POP TREND WILL BE DOWN FOR THE NEXT 6 HRS...THEN PICK UP
AGAIN TOWARD MORNING AS A 100-115 KT 300 MB JET STREAK AND
ASSOCIATED SHORT WAVE TROUGH ROUND THE LONGWAVE TROUGH BASE AND
EJECT OVER TX. WILL UPDATE TO REWORD THE FORECAST AS SUCH...
REFOCUSING POPS TOWARD MORNING...BUT GENERALLY KEEPING THEM
CATEGORICAL.

THE OTHER ISSUES ARE SEVERE/HEAVY RAIN THREAT. 18-24Z WED MODEL
SOUNDINGS CONTINUE TO SHOW MUCAPE OF 1250-2250 J/KG...0-6 KM SHEAR
OF 20 M/S...0-3 KM SRH OF 150-250 M2/S2...AND DRY AIR/STEEP LAPSE
RATES FROM 500-700 MB. WV IMAGERY TRENDS AND 00Z CRP/BRO SOUNDINGS
INDICATE THE LIKELIHOOD FOR THESE CONDITIONS OVER OUR AREA ON TUE.
WILL TAKE THE UNUSUAL STEP OF ISSUING A HEAVY RAIN/SEVERE WEATHER
OUTLOOK FOR THE SECOND PERIOD...FIGURING FOLKS WOULD RATHER KNOW
TONIGHT THAN TOMORROW MORNING. WILL UPDATE THE ZONE FORECASTS
ACCORDINGLY. PRIND ARE THE MAIN THREAT TO BE ALONG/SOUTH OF A LINE
FROM CLL TO CXO TO LIBERTY.

.HGX...SCEC FOR BAYS AND GULF WATERS OUT 0-60NM.

31/40/48

UPDATE PRELIMS...
CLL TB 060/070 048/058 043 +64  RISING TEMPS TO 7 AM VALUE FAR LEFT
IAH TW 066/073 057/061 045 +75  DITTO
GLS TW 070/073 065/064 052 +75  DITTO

In the hours before

Special weather statement, Dec 11, 9:20 PM CST, 5 hours before

TXZ163-164-176>179-195>200-210>214-226-227-235>238-121030-

HAZARDOUS WEATHER OUTLOOK
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE HOUSTON/GALVESTON TX
920 PM CST TUE DEC 11 2001

...SLIGHT RISK OF SEVERE STORMS AND HEAVY RAIN ON WEDNESDAY...

THERE IS A SLIGHT RISK FOR SEVERE STORMS AND HEAVY RAIN ON WEDNESDAY.
THE MAIN SEVERE THREAT IS ISOLATED TORNADOES AND DAMAGING WINDS. THE
PRIMARY THREAT TIME IS FROM NOON TO 7 PM. THE MOST LIKELY THREAT
AREA IS ALONG AND SOUTH OF A LINE FROM COLLEGE STATION TO CONROE TO
LIBERTY.

SOME STORMS WILL PRODUCE HEAVY RAIN AND SOME LOCATIONS WILL
HAVE A SERIES OF STORMS MOVE OVER IN A FEW HOURS...KNOWN AS ECHO
TRAINING. HEAVY RAINFALL MAY RESULT. AVERAGE RAINFALL AMOUNTS
TONIGHT THROUGH WEDNESDAY NIGHT WILL AVERAGE 1 TO 2 INCHES...BUT A
FEW LOCATIONS COULD RECEIVE 3 TO 5 INCHES OF RAIN. THE MOST LIKELY
THREAT AREA FOR HEAVY RAIN WILL BE ALONG AND NORTH OF INTERSTATE 10.

A STRONG JET STREAK...UPPER TROUGH...AND MOIST GULF AIR WILL CAUSE
SHOWERS AND THUNDERSTORMS TO DEVELOP ON WEDNESDAY. PRESENT
INDICATIONS ARE SUNSHINE WILL PEAK THROUGH OVER SOUTHERN LOCATIONS...
PROVIDING SURFACE HEATING. VERTICAL WIND SHEAR IS SUFFICIENT TO
MAINTAIN ROTATING UPDRAFTS...AND HENCE THE THREAT FOR ISOLATED
TORNADOES...DAMAGING WINDS...AND HEAVY RAIN.

STAY TUNED TO NOAA WEATHER RADIO OR OTHER NEWS PROVIDERS FOR THE
LATEST FORECASTS...STATEMENTS...AND POSSIBLE WARNINGS ON WEDNESDAY.

31/JWZ

The radar

The Houston radar (KHGX), 76 km away, was scanning. The volume nearest the first event began at 08:17 UTC.

Open the radar archive at this moment

Event by event

2 tornado. Local standard time, as filed.

Tornado, Brazoria

When: December 12, 2:20 AM CST to 2:25 AM CST
Where: Brazoria County, 5 mi SW of Brazoria
Rating: F1
Path length: 1.5 mi
Path width: 75 yd
Property damage: $200,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 29.000, -95.650

An F1 Tornado touched down 5 miles southwest of Brazoria. Several homes in the Lazy Oak Ranch Subdivision on CR 461A had roof damage. A machine shop on CR 461 sustained heavy damage, along with the cars and boats in its parking lot. There were no injuries. Numerous trees were down from the San Bernard River to the Lazy Oak subdivision. Reported by Emergency Management.

Tornado, Brazoria

When: December 12, 2:30 AM CST to 2:33 AM CST
Where: Brazoria County, Brazoria
Rating: F0
Path length: 1 mi
Path width: 30 yd
Property damage: $200,000
Reported by: EMERGENCY MANAGER
Coordinates: 29.050, -95.583

An F0 Tornado touched down in the city of Brazoria. There was roof and structural damage to homes and businesses, in a 10 block area, along TX Highway 36 in Brazoria. A 175 foot internet tower was blown down, signs were bent over, and minor roof damage to Brazoria Elementary school. No injuries. Reported by Emergency Management

What these are

Tornado: A violently rotating column of air in contact with the ground and extending from a thunderstorm, filed with its path, width and Fujita or Enhanced Fujita rating from the damage survey.

After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.

The same day elsewhere

Every storm in Texas in 2001 Every state in 2001 This day in weather history The tornado archive for Texas, 2001 Warnings in Texas, December 2001

Sources

NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 5275817, 5275865.